Taiwan freezes Filipino hires over deportations to mainland

Taiwan’s labor ministry announced that it will extend the review process for applications from Filipino workers to four months in response to a decision by Manila to extradite 14 Taiwan residents accused of fraud in the Philippines to mainland courts, the South China Morning Post reported. There are 77,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan at present, and their applications were approved or rejected within 12 days under the previous regime. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Timothy Yang Chin-tien said he would recall the island’s chief envoy in Manila and cancel the internet visa-exemption service for Filipinos with visas issued by the US, Japan, the EU, Australia and New Zealand. Taiwan is concerned that the case will establish a precedent for other countries when processing Taiwan residents charged with crimes abroad. In related news, Taiwan has arrested a major general in its military forces for allegedly leaking military secrets to the mainland.