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Forum on the Release of the “Human Rights Impact Investigation Report on Taiwanese Businesses in Thailand”
[Registration] Forum on the Release of the “Human Rights Impact Investigation Report on Taiwanese Businesses in Thailand”
Date & Time: March 22, 2026 (Sunday), 13:00–17:00
Venue: Elite Lecture Hall (Room 5216, Building 5), Soochow University Cheng-Chung Campus
(No. 56, Sec. 1, Guiyang St., Zhongzheng District, Taipei)
Organizers: Taiwan Transnational Corporations Watch (TTNC Watch), Soochow University Human Rights Program, Chang Fo-Chuan Center for the Study of Human Rights, Soochow University
Under the globalized production model, companies from developed economies often procure goods or establish factories in developing countries in order to reduce manufacturing costs. In many of these host countries, labor and environmental regulations tend to be less stringent. In some cases, authoritarian governments suppress civil liberties, further weakening protections for workers and communities. When multinational enterprises minimize costs by exploiting labor or damaging the environment within overseas factories or supply chains, victims frequently face significant obstacles in seeking remedies locally.
In response to these challenges, the international community—led by the United Nations—has in recent years promoted the Business and Human Rights agenda, encouraging governments and corporations to adopt policies that safeguard labor rights and environmental justice across global supply chains.
Taiwan is no exception to these global trends. In 1991, Taiwan transitioned within the global capitalist system from a production base to a capital-exporting economy, with outward investment exceeding inbound foreign investment for the first time. As a result, human rights abuses involving Taiwanese enterprises abroad have occasionally emerged, drawing international concern. From 1993 to 2022, China (including Hong Kong) remained the primary destination for Taiwanese overseas investment. However, since 2023, due to shifts in international political dynamics, Southeast Asian countries collectively have surpassed China and Hong Kong as the largest recipients of Taiwanese investment.
In response to these developments, Taiwan Transnational Corporations Watch published the “Human Rights and Environmental Impact Report on Taiwanese Businesses in Indonesia” in 2024, exposing labor violations and environmental damage associated with Taiwanese enterprises operating in Indonesia, and calling upon corporations to improve their practices and the government to strengthen regulatory oversight. This forum will present the “Human Rights Impact Investigation Report on Taiwanese Businesses in Thailand,” continuing and expanding civil society’s efforts—following the Indonesia report—to monitor the human rights performance of Taiwanese enterprises in Southeast Asia.
Faced with negative human rights records involving Taiwanese businesses overseas, the Taiwanese government has not remained entirely passive. In 2020, the Executive Yuan released the “Taiwan National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights,” committing to promote administrative management of transnational investment and extraterritorial jurisdiction in order to ensure that Taiwanese enterprises’ overseas investments do not violate international human rights norms. The plan also emphasizes providing effective remedies for victims in cases where Taiwanese companies or Taiwanese-controlled multinational enterprises engage in activities abroad that infringe upon human rights or damage the environment.
After more than a year of delay, the revised version of the Action Plan—originally promised by the Executive Yuan to be released by the end of 2024—is reportedly expected to be published soon. In addition, the government plans to introduce the “Taiwan Corporate Supply Chain Human Rights Due Diligence Initiative,” which will require enterprises to implement human rights due diligence to identify and prevent human rights risks within their supply chains and to provide remedies when violations occur.
Taking these two landmark policy initiatives as points of departure, this forum will also examine Taiwan’s Business and Human Rights policies from a civil society perspective, offering expectations and recommendations for future improvements.