Taiwan labour minister apologises for ‘racist’ comments regarding Indian migrant workers

The minister had said Taiwan planned to hire workers from north-east India because of their "skin colour and eating habits". - Reuters

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s Labour Minister Hsu Ming-chun has apologised for saying that the island planned to recruit workers from India’s north-eastern states because “their skin colour and eating habits” are similar to those of the Taiwanese.

The comments, made during a Yahoo TV interview that was uploaded to YouTube on March 1, were criticised by politicians from the ruling and opposition parties in Taiwan. They were also carried by Indian news outlets, with one of them labelling the comments as “racist”.