3+ Years of Fighting Prejudice, Discrimination & Injustice in Taiwan

  As Typhoon Fanapi disrupts life on this small island just southwest of mainland China today, it's a good time to begin this blog - a cautionary tale of some of the serious problems in Taiwan.  

  There are many wonderful things to see and do in Taiwan, and many good people, but for those of you considering visiting or working in Taiwan, you should also know there are some growing dangers here less obvious than typhoons and earthquakes.

  Like anywhere in the world, in Taiwan there are some very bad and overambitious local people who aren't shy to take advantage of and violate others to satisfy their needs and goals. Plenty of people here have stereotypes and prejudices of "foreigners" that affect their judgment and treatment of us. To make matters worse, for foreigners who are unwitting victims of these kinds of people, the justice system here is of little to no help. 

  Recent news about scandals and incompetence in the judiciary - all the way up to the Supreme Court  - have been making headlines for the past couple months. Foreigners are easy victims of locals who file complaints and a judiciary that too often acts (or fails to act) based on their stereotypes of and biases against foreigners. Those who dare to seek justice for wrongs done to them by locals face an equally daunting and almost impossible situation to win in Taiwan courts.

  I’m speaking about this from my own experience having lived in Taiwan for most of the past 12 years and for the past 3+ years having been fighting a David vs Goliath battle in civil and administrative courts against some unscrupulous administrators at a nursing college in Taipei where I used to teach.

  To bring you near up-to-date on where I'm at now with my fight, take a look at this long letter I just wrote to the acting head of Taiwan's Judicial Yuan who was recently nominated by President Ma Ying Jeou to take the reins of this judicial watchdog and guide reforms in light of the most recent scandals involving high court judges, prosecutors and others both inside and out of the judiciary.

Letter to Acting Judicial Yuan President - Sept. 17, 2010