Lai is a native of Nantou in central Taiwan. He married a young Thai national about a month ago. However, as soon as his wife arrived in the country, Lai said she moved out of his house and went to live with another man, also of Thai origin, in Da Ya Township, Taichung County.

“I want to get a divorce ... She hasn’t passed the legal medical examination yet ... She is unfaithful ... I know,” he told ETtoday news network in a telephone interview that morning.

Since last September, foreign spouses of Taiwan nationals intending to visit the country for the first time after their marriage are required to produce clean bills of health issued by state-run hospitals, licensed private hospitals or university-affiliated hospitals and certified by a Chinese notary agency.

Disappointed about his wife, Lai further alleged that she might be suffering from AIDS, because she had avoided taking the compulsory health examination.

“This is the right thing to do,” said a passer-by, who was looking at the public announcement on the board from his motorcycle.

“He must have spent a lot of money,” noted another one, hinting at the large sums spent by Taiwan nationals to marry foreign brides — up to NT$300,000 to contact a candidate and process the official documents, according to several estimates. According to various tallies, Taiwan new immigrants totaled up to 390,000 people in 2007. Together with their children and husbands, they account for nearly one million people.

Foreign workers, on the other hand, totaled up to 330,000 people last year. They come from mostly Southeast Asian countries and for the most part work in factories, construction projects or as caregivers to children and the elderly.

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