Disability Rights: In Case You Missed It
In this episode of In Case You Missed It, we look at the ongoing fight for disability rights in Taiwan and recognize the people leading the cause.
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00:00Hello and welcome, I'm Rhys Ayres with news about disability rights from around Taiwan,
00:20in case you missed it.
00:22For over a year, Taiwan Plus followed the story of Michael Boyden, a severely disabled
00:27British citizen in Taiwan who was denied help from authorities.
00:32This January, his wife's long fight for support for her bedridden husband finally paid off.
00:37Louise Watt reports.
00:41After four years of fighting, a win.
00:44Taipei resident Katie Ho is picking up a certificate of disability for her British husband.
00:50He, Michael Boyden, is bedridden and needs constant care, but as a foreigner he's been
00:56denied disability benefits here, until now.
01:00I'm very happy for Michael because he really opened up the path for people to follow up.
01:11And I wish from the bottom of my heart people don't need to use it, don't need to, but if
01:17they need then there is a path that is opening up.
01:20Boyden has lived in Taiwan for more than 30 years and was diagnosed with atypical Parkinsonism
01:27four years ago.
01:29His case was one highlighted by campaigners pushing for disability rights for foreigners.
01:35They've won a change in the rules.
01:37British, Canadian and US citizens residing in Taiwan are now eligible to apply for a
01:43disability certificate, which opens the door to subsidised medical care and equipment and
01:49respite help for carers.
01:52Taiwan's Health and Welfare Ministry says disability benefits are being granted to these
01:56foreign nationals as their countries offer the same to Taiwanese living there.
02:02But this isn't the end of the issue.
02:05Campaigners here say they will keep fighting so all foreigners in Taiwan with disabilities
02:10can claim equal treatment.
02:12And not stopping there, they also want to find a way to make it easier to get Taiwanese
02:17citizenship.
02:19Taiwan recognises dual nationality for its own people, but foreigners are required to
02:23renounce their original citizenship should they want to become Taiwanese.
02:29Campaigners say this is unfair and makes it harder for Taiwan to attract and retain the
02:33international talent it seeks.
02:37The question is why should people come to Taiwan, not as just tourists or just passerbyers,
02:42but why should they choose to invest in Taiwan for the long term without a citizenship pathway?
02:48You know, you're always going to be treated as pretty much a second class citizen.
02:52You're going to be a resident, you're a foreigner.
02:55While citizenship is a longer term goal, campaigners say there's a more urgent need for Taiwan
03:00to recognise all foreigners with disabilities.
03:03Sympathetic legislators plan to push this issue in the upcoming new session, giving
03:09hope to other foreign residents who have become part of Taiwanese society and yet are struggling
03:15to get the help they need.
03:17Cline Wong and Louise Watt for Taiwan Plus.
03:22Michael's wife Katie informed Taiwan Plus that Michael passed away in mid-June, saying
03:27he fought a good fight and is suffering no more.
03:31There were more success stories in the fight for disability rights for foreigners in Taiwan
03:35this year.
03:36In April, a five-year-old girl became the first child born to non-Taiwanese parents
03:41to get a disability card.
03:43Louise Watt has that story too.
03:54Five-year-old American Anwen Hart-Brown loves the Beijing opera.
03:59She's seen it online many times at the family home in New Taipei City, but never in a theatre.
04:06That's because, despite having trouble walking and seeing from a distance, she hasn't been
04:12allowed to sit in a disabled seat.
04:16Until now.
04:17You like the Beijing operas that show the gods, right?
04:22Uh-oh.
04:26Anwen has congenital heart disease and left hemiplegic cerebral palsy.
04:32The left side of her body is weak.
04:35Although born in Taiwan, as the child of foreigners, Anwen's disability was not officially
04:41recognised, leaving her locked out of benefits and services.
04:46But the regulations have just been changed and she now has a disability card.
04:52The biggest advantage is not having to tell people that she doesn't have one and explain.
04:58And then also getting to go places where she can't take full advantage of them because
05:04of her disability.
05:06In Taiwan, only permanent residents from Japan, the United States, Britain and Canada
05:12are eligible for a disability certificate.
05:16And those Western nations only recently, after a campaign by rights activists.
05:22These nationalities have been singled out because their countries offer Taiwanese disability
05:28benefits.
05:29But Anwen's parents say that much remains inaccessible.
05:34We haven't, we aren't able to get anything that requires a financial subsidy.
05:39So we can't get respite care, which being, we don't have family here and we don't have
05:49any support to help take care of her.
05:52So far, they've been told they qualify for discounts for transport and cultural activities.
05:57But care and subsidies depend on other government programs.
06:02The Ministry of Health and Welfare told Taiwan Plus that to access most of the benefits and
06:07services a disability card is not enough.
06:11For some subsidies, for example, you need a household registration document.
06:17And that's something that's only available to Taiwanese citizens.
06:22Rights activists say they will keep fighting and press the government to remove obstacles.
06:28In Taiwan, we have been so blessed with the convenience of a centralised database.
06:36Everything is consolidated onto the household registration.
06:40So we forget how to do it without it.
06:42But I think that's something that the local government can learn and to start working on it.
06:50Authorities say Anwen will get another assessment to see if she qualifies for more benefits.
06:57While there are still gaps in what foreigners can access, for now at least, Anwen is happy
07:03she will soon get to see and hear Beijing opera performers up close in a theatre.
07:12Klein Wong and Louise Watt for Taiwan Plus.
07:16New cup.
07:17Yay!
07:20Earlier this year, prominent disability rights lawyer Chen Chun-han died at age 40.
07:25Tiffany Wong looks at his life.
07:28Before disability rights lawyer and scholar Chen Chun-han became an advocate for others,
07:33he learned the power of advocacy from his mother.
07:37I've never been able to make a difference since I was a child.
07:40My mother comforted me and said it's okay, you can't make a difference.
07:43So I did.
07:44Chen was born 40 years ago with spinal muscular atrophy,
07:48a condition that affects muscle movement and development.
07:51And after suffering burns while at college in Taiwan, he had both legs amputated.
07:56But Chen persevered in his studies and later graduated from Harvard and University of Michigan's law schools.
08:03Over the years, Chen became known for his work advocating for greater accessibility
08:08that was lacking when he was growing up,
08:10inspiring others in Taiwan to imagine a brighter future for those living with disabilities.
08:16He was actually very involved in some of the work rights of people with disabilities,
08:24and some of the related pushback related to the design of birth certificates.
08:26So I think based on his personal experience and needs,
08:32as well as the many laws he learned abroad,
08:37I think he is a very important figure in Taiwan.
08:43In January's elections, Chen was one of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's legislative nominees
08:48and aimed to promote drug reforms for people with disabilities.
08:52Every life should be cherished.
08:55So I hope that Taiwan will be able to make faster changes to the drug reform system.
09:06And though he lost the seat, the party vowed to continue the work that he started.
09:11Chen was recently hospitalized for complications from a cold
09:15and passed away over the Lunar New Year holiday.
09:17I'm very sad because we all know that he was a brave warrior.
09:21Chen's life is full of inspiring stories.
09:25In a statement online, Chen's family wished him peace and freedom from pain,
09:30and said they'll hold a public memorial to honor him later this month,
09:34allowing those whose lives he's helped improve a final chance to say goodbye.
09:39Howard Zhang and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.
09:43Disability rights groups are calling for standardized accessibility rules for air travel.
09:49One group of blind travelers say an airline told them they would each need a sighted guide
09:54in order to board their flight.
09:56Rights groups say every airline and airport has different rules,
09:59making it hard to know what to expect.
10:02The Civil Aeronautics Administration says it will discuss proposed changes.
10:07Many people with severe disabilities say
10:09they can't get a seat on the plane.
10:14Many people with severe disabilities have their seats customized.
10:19When they sit on the basic equipment at the airport,
10:24they are constantly being harmed.
10:28Performance artists often use sound cues to keep pace in a work of drama or dance.
10:34But how do deaf performers do it?
10:36I spent a day with a hard-of-hearing performance troupe to find out.
10:42Moving in time to a beat they can feel, but can't hear.
10:47This performance troupe is made up entirely of actors who are deaf or hard of hearing.
10:52Their passion for theatre has helped them overcome their inability to hear or communicate verbally.
10:58Though for most, including performance artists Yin Cheng Huang,
11:01the path to the stage was long and full of obstacles.
11:05I asked if I could give it a try.
11:07But the hearing teacher kept saying,
11:10you can't hear, you can't hear the music, what do we do?
11:12I said, it's OK, I'll try to count the beats,
11:15I'll just follow the beats in my heart.
11:18But the teacher said, you'll encounter difficulties.
11:24The constant fight to prove himself almost became too much for Yin.
11:29I felt, wow, I can't hear, there are so many difficulties.
11:34The opportunity to find the music kept disappearing.
11:37At that time, I was a bit sad.
11:40I felt as if we were deaf and couldn't dance.
11:44I had given up. I stopped performing.
11:47But Yin eventually got back on his feet
11:50and found a community of hard-of-hearing performers
11:53who had learned how to dance and act despite their disability.
11:59With varying degrees of hearing impairments,
12:01the performers used different techniques to keep in time with the music,
12:05including using light cues and by sensing vibrations through the ground.
12:11And using their bodies instead of their voices,
12:14they tell stories about the struggles they face
12:16living in a world designed for people who can hear.
12:20We have been exploring the so-called trust, communication and harmony.
12:26And how to break through the barriers of fear
12:32that they face in society.
12:34And how to present these works one by one.
12:39There are over 120,000 deaf or hard-of-hearing people in Taiwan,
12:44but few opportunities for them in the performing arts.
12:48A Problem Artistic director Wang Heng
12:50says hard-of-hearing people face from a young age.
12:54In education, there are very few artists,
12:58especially in the performing arts and the theatre.
13:02So how do we start from scratch
13:05and take them step by step into this very professional field?
13:10A lifetime in the wings left many hard-of-hearing performers
13:13feeling isolated and impacted their ability
13:16to form relationships with the hearing community.
13:19So when we want to create a performance together,
13:23they don't have enough trust in us, the hearing community.
13:28And this trust needs a lot of WhatsApp,
13:32and field research, and talking to them.
13:36And even some private psychological consultation.
13:42Only then can they gradually open up
13:45and say, oh, so you really care about our deaf culture.
13:49Building that trust allowed for the creation
13:52of a collaborative, ever-evolving performance piece,
13:55combining elements of dance and drama
13:58that tells inspirational stories about overcoming adversity.
14:02Whether you're deaf or hard-of-hearing,
14:07you need to go out and interact with people.
14:11You need to feel life,
14:14interact with people,
14:17so that we can broaden our horizons
14:20and open up our hearts.
14:22Then we won't feel like we're trapped in our own world.
14:26This troupe plans to take their performances and workshops south
14:29to the rest of the country,
14:31giving more hard-of-hearing people the chance
14:33to see that a career in the performing arts
14:35is well within reach.
14:37Devon Tai and Rhys Ayres in Taoyuan for Taiwan Plus.
14:42Thank you for watching In Case You Missed It.
14:44I'm Rhys Ayres.
14:45Take care, and we'll see you next time.
14:47♪♪