Lee Hung-yi, an independent Kaohsiung City Council candidate, in a local election in Taiwan is receiving a strong backlash for featuring a banned symbol over an Indian flag and a turbaned man in a campaign billboard.
According to reports, the poster depicted a man wearing a turban and an inverted Indian flag beneath a prohibition sign, signifying his disapproval of Taiwan's practice of using Indian migrant labourers.
Lee Hung-yi, an independent candidate for the upcoming city council elections and a borough warden in Kaohsiung City's Siaogang District, reportedly put up a billboard with an image of a man wearing a turban and a "no" symbol over the Indian flag, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) and Taiwan News.
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Lee Hung-yi defended the poster in an interview with CNA, stating that he was not against migrant labour in general. He did, however, express his disapproval of Taiwan's policy of accepting more Indian labourers, claiming that the plan lacked sufficient backing and management procedures. He reportedly mentioned the message was meant to convey his objection to Taiwan's plan to hire migrant workers from India.
In order to address persistent labour shortages in industry, agriculture, and caregiving, Taiwan is actively planning a trial program to hire Indian labourers. The project comes after a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from 2024. However, there is popular unease and political opposition to the plan.
The Taiwanese are not particularly fond of Indians. One political candidate in Kaohsiung vows to ban Indians from immigrating. pic.twitter.com/bKrvIoXi0W
— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) May 18, 2026
Taiwan is trying to broaden its migrant labour pool in response to a rapidly ageing population and dropping fertility rates.
In order to greatly increase bilateral cooperation in labour mobility and trade, Taiwan and India inked two historic accords in 2024.
This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) permits the use of Indian labourers in Taiwan's industrial, construction, agricultural, and caregiving industries.
In order to address the serious labour shortages brought on by its fast-ageing population and low birth rates, Taiwan looked to India as a "new source" of migrant workers. A phased trial program involving the deployment of about 1,000 Indian workers in several businesses is part of the deal.
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"The Taiwanese are not particularly fond of Indians. One political candidate in Kaohsiung vows to ban Indians from immigrating," Ian Miles Cheong, a popular Malaysian journalist and writer, posted on X while sharing a clip from a Taiwanese news channel where a journalist claimed that Indian-born residents in the country stated the sign made them uneasy, as per The Times of India.
The billboard has stirred discussion about Taiwan's immigration policy and received criticism for suspected racial discrimination. Concerns have also been voiced by the main opposition party, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which has warned that "runaway" Indian migrant labourers could "imperil women's safety" in the nation.
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