A group of Chinese spouses protested tearfully outside the National Immigration Agency yesterday morning, as top officials met to address the need for a new immigration policy. 
Approximately 100 Chinese spouses and families chanted slogans, saying they had felt insulted and discriminated against when being interviewed before obtaining Taiwanese resident permits or ID cards. 
 
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) attended the official launch at the immigration agency and said he looks forward to seeing the agency set up a new range of policies that best serve the interests of new immigrants. 
 
"One out of the five married couples involves a foreigner; and one out of eight babies is born to a foreign spouse," Su noted, adding "the figure clearly shows that Taiwan is an 'new immigration society.'" 
 
He explained that as human rights are a universal value - something Taiwan prides strives to protect - the government is required to spare no effort in listening to the needs of both foreign spouses and foreign workers, as they make up a substantial part of Taiwanese society. 
 
"Policymakers should place themselves in other people's shoes and set up policies that truly fit the needs of immigrants," Su said, highlighting how vital he felt it was to make immigrants feel welcome in Taiwan. 
 
Su also explained the need for the agency to assist foreign spouses in getting used to life in Taiwan, and to establish facilities in every council to take care of immigrant residents. 
 
When questioned about the biometrics recognition system introduced by the NIA, Su urged the general public to support the policy because national security was something that should be tightened, not loosened. 
 
Commissioner of the NIA Wu Chen-chi (吳振吉) estimated the system will likely be adopted by the end of the year, and went on to explain that all Chinese tourists will have to undergo biometric testing when they enter Taiwan, whereas foreigners from other nations will not be subjected to the procedure in its early stages. Wu said "the reason why Chinese tourists must go through the examination is because China's counterfeit gangs have mastered counterfeit techniques so well that the only way to protect Taiwan against illegal immigrants is by using such high tech machinery as the biometric scanner. 
 
Wu, in the mean time, refuted media reports that some agency personnel bribed their way into their posts. He stressed every person passed the appropriate test and acquired their position through legal means. 
 
Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), Mainland Affairs Council Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Government Information Office Minister Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), and the Minister of the Coast Guard Administration Wang Chin-wang (王進旺) all attended the launch ceremony at the immigration headquarters.