A troubling aspect of India’s relations with the island nation of Taiwan is out in the open and has the potential to drive a wedge between the two, unless handled with care. The issue is about racial discrimination. Last year, in November, soon after a media report said that Taiwan was getting ready to hire a number of Indian workers, there was a surge of racist comments on social media on how hiring Indians would result in safety issues for Taiwan. The usual propaganda used by anti-India forces to caricature Indians as incompetent and violent misogynists flooded the internet, so much so that Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to issue a statement, saying, “The recent surge of racist remarks belittling Indian workers bears the hallmarks of #PRC cognitive warfare. It’s a devious move to tarnish our national image & strain #Taiwan🇹🇼-#India🇮🇳 relations, but the attempt to destroy goodwill in the #MilkTeaAlliance won’t prevail!” All very fine, but then the matter becomes problematic when a minister in the current Taiwan government adds fuel to the matter by making what seems like statements with racial overtones.
According to Taiwan’s Minister of Labour, Hsu Ming-chun, on 16 February, Taiwan and India signed a memorandum of understanding regarding cooperation on migrant workers and the initial plan was to bring a small number of workers from the Christian-majority regions of India’s Northeast, as their skin colour and dietary habits were similar to those in Taiwan.
Ironically, the minister perhaps did not even realise how racist her comments could be construed as. According to her, it is not merit that counts, but skin colour and, implicitly, religion. If it is about the workers’ better integration with Taiwanese society, why was religion mentioned, given that Taiwan has barely 4-6% Christian population? Was the minister trying to imply that the followers of certain religions were violent, while those belonging to other religions were not? No wonder her comments are being interpreted as, racial and religious discrimination as a matter of government policy. Hsu could have said only skilled Indian workers would be allowed to come to Taiwan, or that skill training was needed for these workers. Instead, her words sound like the product of some deep-rooted racial bias. The problem is, such “casual” racism can also pose a threat to migrant workers who will go there to earn a living.
During the height of Covid-19, in 2021, there were media reports of racial discrimination against migrant workers from South East Asia, about how they were being discriminated against when compared to their Taiwanese colleagues. The Diplomat reported in June 2021 that factory owners and at least one county government in Miaoli, were imposing restrictions on the movement of these South East Asian workers specifically. It seems even the US government had flagged the “exploitative practices” of Taiwan’s labour brokers when it came to handling migrant workers. So the situation is not ideal. In fact, the treatment of Indian labour by the Gulf countries too has been a cause for concern and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up the matter with the governments there. So while such problems are not Taiwan specific, Taipei’s focus should be on creating the right conditions for migrant labour, instead of thinking of their skin colour and religion.
The sad part is, the script plays into China’s hands. There is hardly any awareness among Indians about Taiwan, but even then such discriminatory comments are bound to have a backlash, although confined to social media for the time being; apart from giving Indians the wrong impression about the Taiwanese in general. Eventually, if all this affects bilateral relations, who will be the happiest? It’s China, which is extremely sensitive on anything related to Taiwan, which it says is Chinese territory. In an interview to this newspaper’s sister channel, NewsX, last week, the Foreign Minister of Taiwan, Dr Joseph Wu, said Taiwan would be working with India in areas related to “economic cooperation, cultural cooperation, educational cooperation, and agricultural cooperation.” According to him, “All these provide wonderful opportunities for us to benefit each other, and they will pave the way for better relations between Taiwan and India.” So unhappy were the Chinese with the interview, that they issued a statement against it, to which Taiwan said that they couldn’t care less about what China thought. That’s the spirit Taiwan is known for. It is admired as a nation that stands up to the Chinese Communist bully, every day, in spite of the constant threats of military aggression.
Indian workers, be they blue or white collar, are known to be peace-loving, hard-working and disciplined, the reason why they are regarded highly by their employers all over the world. The Indian diaspora is among the most successful in whichever country they may be based in. Whatever may be the propaganda spread against Indians, including by those from PRC, Taiwan needs to keep this in mind and walk the path of greater bilateral cooperation with India.