Economy

What Happened: “Forced labor has flourished at migrant workplaces in Taiwan for decades, and more and more cases are coming to light,” investigative reporter Peter Bengtsen writes for The Diplomat. “Exploitative practices remain largely unaddressed by the authorities, as many of the ingredients potentially accumulating to forced labor – fees charged by foreign recruiters, service fees charged by Taiwanese brokers, exorbitant interest rates, passport withholding, work-visas bound to specific employers, restrictions on changing workplaces, and all the inherent vulnerabilities to further abuse – are not illegal in Taiwan.” All these practices persist at companies that supply major Western firms involved in the space, technology, and automotive sectors.

Our Focus: “Back home, I paid recruiters for this job with borrowed money. I am still paying off my debt,” one migrant employee of LMW, a supplier for SpaceX as well as many multinational automotive brands, told The Diplomat. “On top of that, labor brokers here in Taiwan charge me monthly fees. Everybody pays.” Recruitment fees alone can reach up to $6,000 – around three years’ wages in Vietnam. Meanwhile, labor brokers within Taiwan can charge migrant workers fees for services that elsewhere are borne by employers as human resource costs. These fees “correspond to two months of pay per three-year contract and amount to $484 million per year,” Bengtsen notes, based on extensive interviews with migrant workers.

What Comes Next: Activists have been pressing Taiwan’s government to take action for years, including doing away with the hefty – but entirely legal – fees and allowing migrant workers the freedom to change jobs. So far, these calls have fallen on deaf ears. That means the best hope for change is from the companies themselves – especially large multinational firms who have pledged their commitment to eliminate exploitative labor practices.

INTERVIEW

Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea at the Philippine Coast Guard, on China’s changing behavior in disputed waters: “Before it was very difficult for the People’s Republic of China to admit that the existence of the Chinese Maritime Militia, although we have been documenting their presence way back in 2021… But in the past months we can see how active they are now in participating in blocking the resupply missions [to Second Thomas Shoal].”

Northeast Asia

As Israel mounts a ground invasion of Palestine – and civilian casualties mount – Japan is struggling to calibrate its response. On one hand, Tokyo is unwilling to voice major criticism of Israel, which would bring Japan into opposition with its own ally, the United States. But Tokyo’s calculations put its interests more in line with the Arab powers, Japan’s major oil suppliers. Japan’s government is trying to thread the needle, but as the situation deteriorates that balancing act may become impossible.

South Asia

Two separate protests in Bangladesh turned violent this past week: one a rally by the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the other a demonstration by garment workers seeking increased pay. At least five people died in clashes with police, while vandalism and arson were reported in both cases. The incidents are a stark reminder of the tense public mood in Bangladesh as the country gears up for elections amid an economic crisis.

Southeast Asia

An alliance of ethnic rebel groups this week launched a coordinated offensive against Myanmar’s military junta and its allies in the northern part of Shan State, potentially opening a major new front in the country’s civil war. The attack is being carried out by the Three Brotherhood Alliance – which includes the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army – and appeared to take the military by surprise. The Alliance has overrun military outposts, seized key population centers across northern Shan, including the town of Chinshwehaw on the Chinese border, and cut the main highway connecting Myanmar to China. The situation is changing hour by hour, but if the Alliance can hold onto its gains, the offensive has the potential to become a turning point in the country’s civil war.

Central Asia

46 men died in a fire at a mine in Karaganda region in Kazakhstan last week. After years of safety problems, the mine's parent company, ArcelorMittal, has confirmed that it is in talks to transfer ownership to Kazakhstan. But a change of ownership won’t necessarily make mining any safer. Decaying infrastructure and a lack of regulatory enforcement are expensive problems to fix – in terms of money and political capital.

Women play football during a tournament in Kök-Tash village, Kyrgyzstan, near the contested border with Tajikistan.

Society

Idaenam, shorthand in Korean for “men in their 20s” but perhaps better translated figuratively as “angry young men.”