Taiwan candidate's anti-India billboards spark outrage, draw rebuke

Billboards showing a turbaned man with a 'no entry' sign, put up by a candidate in upcoming local body elections in Taiwan, have unsettled the small but growing Indian community on the island - and drawn a sharp rebuke from one of the country's most senior officials. The hoardings were put up about a fortnight ago in Kaohsiung city by Lee Hung-Yi, currently the chief of Gangming ward in the city's Siaogang district, who is contesting as an independent candidate in the Nov city council elections. The images circulated widely on Taiwanese social media.

When questioned by local media, Lee was unambiguous. He said he was not against migrant workers in general, only Indian ones. The statement drew an immediate response from Joseph Wu, Taiwan's longest-serving former foreign minister and current secretary general of the National Security Council - the equivalent of India's National Security Adviser. "I feel ashamed to see a local politician doing this to catch attention. I condemn such despicable conduct in a very welcoming society. I will continue to work hard to strengthen Taiwan-India mutual cooperation," Wu said. Despite attempts, Lee could not be reached for comment.

Indians currently living in Taiwan - numbering a little over 7,000, according to the National Immigration Agency, making them the ninth-largest foreign resident group on the island - say the billboards are troubling but not entirely surprising. "It seems to be an extension of anti-India propaganda on popular social media platforms like TikTok and Threads in Taiwan, being pushed by certain countries that work against India's interests," said Arpita Biswas, a marine science research scholar at National Taiwan University who has lived in the country for past five years. She added that Taiwanese society was largely welcoming, but hostility towards Indians existed in a small section-and was being amplified online. "We come across anti-India propaganda posts almost every day. They are largely driven by a lack of understanding about Indians and their culture due to limited people-to-people contact," she added.

An engineer who has lived in Taiwan for four years and spoke on condition of anonymity said the anti-India sentiment had so far remained confined to social media rather than spilling into daily interactions. "We haven't faced any direct racism from anyone here. But we can definitely feel the undercurrent on social media, where Indians are targeted in racist posts being pushed by people with vested interests. This candidate seems to be trying to cash in on that trend to attract young voters," he said.

A bustling street of a market in Taipei (PC: Suvam Pal)

Media professional and documentary-maker Suvam Pal, who has been based in Taiwan since 2022, traced the roots of the campaign to earlier reports that the Taiwanese govt was planning to recruit one lakh Indian workers to address a labour shortage. "A certain section of the country's politicians ran campaigns against the move, creating a kind of fear psychosis as if Indian workers would land the very next day and take over the country. That is not going to be the case - there are many checks and balances in the hiring process," Pal said.