Taipei: The Ministry of Labor (MOL) has announced a collaborative investigation with the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to scrutinize claims that migrant workers were mobilized to participate in a rally against Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Saturday.
According to Focus Taiwan, the main opposition party, Kuomintang (KMT), held a protest on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei, opposing recall campaigns targeting 34 of its lawmakers. In response, KMT supporters have initiated similar campaigns, recently achieving the second-stage threshold for recall votes against 15 DPP lawmakers.
A video that emerged online on Saturday showed foreign nationals seemingly present at the rally. In the footage, a woman interviews a “protester” in Mandarin, who initially doesn’t understand the question. After translation into Vietnamese, the participant revealed, “An older man brought me here.”
The individuals seen in the video were part of a group wearing blue caps featuring the name and slogan of KMT lawmaker Cheng Cheng-chien, representing Hsinchu City. Lin Chih-chieh, a legal academic, shared the video and a photo depicting people in blue caps on Hsinchu City’s Nanda Road, crediting a private contributor for the images. The group reportedly boarded a tour bus heading north.
Cheng’s office refuted claims of organizing migrant workers for the rally. In a statement, they explained that supporters requested hats from rally staff due to rain, and no background checks were conducted on participants.
The office later confirmed some participants were foreign-born spouses of Taiwanese citizens or their children, asserting that none were migrant workers.
The MOL, in a statement on Saturday night, affirmed its intent to investigate with the NIA to determine if any legal violations occurred. The Employment Service Act prohibits employers from assigning foreign workers tasks beyond their permitted scope. Violators face fines between NT$30,000 (US$921.64) and NT$150,000, alongside potential revocation of foreign worker hiring authorization.
