Six central government departments of China recently issued a joint
circular to temporarily halt labor exports to owners of Taiwan
fishing boats.
The move is to protest Taiwan authorities' failure to protect the
legal rights of mainlanders who work for fishing boats operating
out of the island province.
For a long time, claims have been made that these workers have not
received equal treatment by the Taiwan authorities.
In
the past years, a number of incidents have occurred threatening the
lives and property of fishing laborers from the mainland. In a 1999
case, the captain of a Taiwan-based fishing vessel shot dead 15
mainland workers, but he has not yet been charged in court.
(Xinhua News
Agency February 10, 2002)