Man faces fine for illegal transnational matchmaking service

Kaohsiung, Nov. 22 (CNA) A Kaohsiung man surnamed Lu (呂) faces a maximum fine of NT$500,000 (US$15,952), after being found running an illegal transnational matchmaking business advertising Vietnamese brides, according to the National Immigration Agency.

In a statement released Tuesday, the agency said that members of its Kaohsiung City Brigade recently discovered during an online sweep a post on social media showing a placard that advertised a service helping local men find Vietnamese brides.

The post was published in October by a school teacher in the Linyuan District of the southern Taiwan city who said she found someone had placed a transnational marriage matchmaking advertisement opposite the school, the brigade said.

"It's hard to imagine that in the present time in 2023, we still have to see 'Vietnamese Bride' ads," the teacher said in the post.

The photo attached to the post showed a placard reading "Vietnamese Brides" in Chinese.

The immigration affairs brigade said that as soon as it discovered the post, it dispatched investigators to the location where the placard was seen, a store opposite Linyuan Senior High School, to gather evidence.

The investigators subsequently found that the owner of the matchmaking business was Lu, and in a phone call, he told an investigator he could provide 10 Vietnamese women to choose from, having mistaken him as someone looking for a foreign wife.

Everything Lu said during that call became evidence proving his involvement in the matchmaking service, according to the brigade.

When later officially questioned, Lu claimed his ex-wife, who is Vietnamese, suggested he launch a matchmaking business between Taiwan and Vietnam to make extra income.

However, since Lu was not familiar with social media platforms, he placed an advertising board with pictures of foreign women in front of a shop opposite the school.

According to the agency, by disseminating illegal advertisements relating to transnational marriage, Lu violated Article 58 of the Immigration Act and faces a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$500,000.

Chao Chih-cheng (趙志成), head of the Kaohsiung City Brigade, urged members of the public on Tuesday not to trust such advertisements, whether on the street or online.

He noted that currently there are 35 approved transnational matchmaking business groups in Taiwan, all of which are listed on the immigration agency's website.