Lawmakers push for law to combat discrimination

Tu Sheng-hsiung said he will not allow Koreans to use the service at his restaurant until South Korea issues an apology for one of its taekwondo athlete's violent and illegal action of striking Taiwanese participant, Tseng Ching-hsiang, unconscious in the recent East Asian sports meet held in Hong Kong.

The Korean athlete's behavior drew widespread protests from both officials and the public in Taiwan.

Tu stressed that the Korean had violated the regulations although he was not caught by referees in time.

He insisted that his move has won strong support from many people.

However, several lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan have been pushing for the enactment of an equality law that will ban such discrimination.

Under the draft rules, employers will be banned from providing differing pay packets to employees providing same work, whilst product and service providers will be prohibited from discrimination against customers.

Schools at all levels will also face fines between NT$30,000 and NT$1.5 million if they are convicted of rejecting the admission of people meeting required qualifications to attend their institutions.

Legislators proposing the new law said the draft rules also prohibit the use of discriminatory statements, such as “pigs”or “Taiwan dogs” between Taiwanese people and those from mainland China.

Repeated fines can be meted out against violators until they rectify the discriminations, they said.

The new law will enhance the broader protection of equal rights, following the enactment of the Gender Equality Law by the Legislative Yuan, they added.

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