US embassy cable - 05HANOI2060

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002060 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; INL/AAE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, PREL, PINS, TW, VM, HUMANR, ASEAN 
SUBJECT:  SEXUAL ABUSE CASE OF VIETNAMESE WORKERS IN 
TAIWAN 
 
1.  (U) Summary: The GVN responded energetically to 
reports in the press of abuse of Vietnamese women who 
were sexually abused after traveling to Taiwan as 
overseas laborers.  The GVN demanded investigation and 
follow-up by Taiwan authorities and ordered a review of 
all cases involving the offending labor recruiter in 
Taiwan.  The case was widely covered in the Vietnamese 
media.  End Summary. 
 
  CASE BACKGROUND 
  --------------- 
 
2. (U) According to the Ho Chi Minh City-based "Tuoi Tre" 
("Youth") newspaper (owned by the Communist Youth 
League), a father, his son and a Vietnamese interpreter 
in Taiwan were arrested in July on charges of rape and 
sexual assault.  Hung Ching-chang, the 70 year-old 
father, and Hung Minh-yu, the 48 year-old son and manager 
of an overseas labor recruitment agency in Taiwan, 
allegedly assaulted at least 20 Vietnamese women who were 
seeking work as maids, while claiming to conduct 
"physical examinations."  When the case came to light, 
the accused forced the women to sign documents stating 
that they were not sexually harassed during their stay in 
Taiwan.  In addition, each victim was paid USD 2,000 to 
remain silent about the case.  Some of the victims 
contacted authorities anyway.  If found guilty, the men 
could face up to ten years' imprisonment. 
 
  GVN'S RESPONSE 
  -------------- 
 
3. (U) The Government of Vietnam strongly (and publicly) 
"condemned the immoral acts perpetrated against 
Vietnamese guest workers in Taiwan," according to Deputy 
Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen 
Luong Trao.  Vietnam asked the Taiwan authorities to 
conduct a prompt investigation of the case, to bring the 
offenders to trial and to provide timely and precise 
information to the Vietnamese side, the Deputy Minister 
said.  Trao asked Taiwan to exercise measures to protect 
the rights and interests of the victims in terms of 
employment and income.  These workers should be given 
satisfactory compensation for their suffering and helped 
to return to Vietnam if they wish, Trao told Taipei 
officials during a working session with the Hanoi-based 
Taipei Cultural and Economic Office.  The GVN also 
insisted that Taiwan "create favorable conditions" for 
the Taipei-based Vietnam Cultural and Economic Office to 
provide consultancy services to the victims. 
 
4. (U) Vietnam's labor export agencies will stop working 
with some Taiwanese brokers, said an official from the 
Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs 
(MOLISA).  Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, Deputy Director of the 
Department for Guest Workers Management, announced the 
policy recently after a delegation of the Department's 
trade union finished a working session with responsible 
agencies in Taiwan on the sexual abuse case at Zhongyou 
Recruitment Company.  According to Quynh, his agency has 
asked Vietnamese businesses and labor export agencies to 
review the operations of Taiwanese partner brokers and 
stop any partnerships with those agencies that are found 
to have failed to protect the Vietnamese guest workers' 
legitimate rights. 
 
  TAIWAN'S RESPONSE 
  ----------------- 
 
5.  (U) In response to the public statements and private 
meetings, Taipei representatives told Deputy Minister 
Trao that Taiwan considers the case a serious one, and 
that Taiwan police are conducting an intensive 
investigation in order to bring the offenders to justice 
quickly.  Taiwan labor agencies are carrying out measures 
to protect the rights of Vietnamese guest workers in 
Taiwan, they said.  They promised publicly to inform 
Vietnamese officials of the results of the investigation 
and how the case is handled.  Quynh acknowledged the 
Taiwanese authorities' "cooperative attitude and firm 
measures" in resolving the case.  The Taiwan authorities 
are collecting evidence to bring suspects to justice and 
protect the legitimate rights of the victims, said 
sources from MOLISA. 
 
6.  (U) "We shall apply severe punishment toward bad 
brokers" Luu Vi Nhan, Head of Taiwan's Overseas Labor 
Board, said in a public statement.  According to Nhan, 
Taiwanese authorities must terminate operations by 
Zhongyou and other "bad brokers."  Concerning this 
particular case, authorities in Taiwan will review all 
companies who used Zhongyou's services to find out about 
other possible abuse cases. 
 
7. (U) COMMENT:  The substantial media coverage given to 
this case initially caused us to worry that other abuse 
cases were occurring in Taiwan or elsewhere that we were 
not hearing or reading about.  However, consultations 
with MOLISA officials and journalists have satisfied us 
that there have not been similar cases in the last year. 
Most of the problems that Vietnam's labor export industry 
has confronted recently, especially in Taiwan, Japan and 
Korea, have involved Vietnamese workers who break their 
contracts and disappear into the illegal labor markets. 
Combating this problem, which the GVN fears will cause 
Vietnamese laborers to be less popular in export markets, 
requires the GVN to undertake unpopular enforcement 
actions against its own citizens.  Consequently, MOLISA 
and the GVN seized on the opportunity this case presented 
to demonstrate that they are as enthusiastic about 
protecting Vietnamese workers as they are about 
protecting the prerogatives of the labor-consuming 
countries and businesses. 
 
MARINE