May 30, 2014
Press Release No. 116
The Republic of China (Taiwan) National Immigration Agency and the US Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center signed a memorandum of understanding to exchange and disseminate information to help combat human trafficking on May 29 in Washington, D.C. The ROC is the first nation in the Asia-Pacific region to sign such an MOU with the US.
Competent agencies of the ROC government have long sought to participate in the effort to fight cross-border human trafficking. Taiwan has, for the past four years, been named a Tier 1 country in the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report, indicating the best performance and showing the affirmation of the US for Taiwan’s efforts in this area. The signing of the MOU will be beneficial for setting up a legal basis for cooperation on information exchange and a joint crackdown on trafficking. This is a testament to Taiwan’s continued effort to fight human trafficking and to growth in the Taiwan-US relationship, and bodes well for the development of the overall relationship. (E)