     A special fact-finding delegation sent to the mainland by Taipei said 
yesterday it had learned nothing new from briefings with beijing 
authorities on the Qiandao Lake incident.  "The briefings given by experts 
from the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait were basically 
consistent with written material we received earlier, with a little more 
oral description" said Shi Hwei-you, deputy secretary-general of the 
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).  Taipei sent the delegates to the east-
ern mainland city of Hangzhou in an attempt to find out the truth behind 
the Qiandao Lake boat fire in which 24 Taiwan tourists were killed.  Shi 
has requested permission to see and interview the three mainland suspects 
caught in connection with the robbery-arson-murder case, and to take some 
physical evidence back to Taipei.  But the ARATS was noncommittal on the 
request, indicating it would have to get permission from higher author-
ities.  "We will determine whether the handling of the case is appropriate 
after visiting the accident site and examining the relevant evidence," said 
Shi, who is heading the delegation.  The delegation includes victims' 
relatives, lawyers, and forensic and criminal investigation experts.
     This was the first time since the March 31 boat fire that SEF 
officials and experts were allowed to visit the mainland to learn about the 
mainland's in vestigation into the case.  "Only by doing so can the fragile 
Taiwan-mainland ties return to normal," the semi-official Central News 
Agency cited Shi as saying.  Shi's ARATS counterpart, Lii Yafei, said peo-
ple in the mainland feel as sad as the people in Taiwan about the accient, 
and that the mainland authorities have tried their utmost to solve the 
case, the CNA reported.  But despite these good intention, mainland author-
ities at yesterday's briefings turned down a request by the delegation to 
see autopsy reports, and instead showed them slides and taped records about 
the condition of the bodies.  In a question-and-answer session after the 
briefings, the SEF delegation pointed out about 100 suspicious points in 
the case, however, the ARATS' responses were only sufficient for a 
"preliminary understanding" of the case, Shi told reporters.  The special 
delegation is expected to travel today to the site of the accident, some 
200 kilometers from Hangzhou, where it hopes to find more information of 
the cause of the tragedy.  The delegation will return to Taipei Saturday.
     Taiwan's top labor policy official yesterday strongly defended the 
recent deportation of two Thai workers for their participation in an 
illegal strike, but indicatedthe ROC will continue to import foreign labor 
as long as the necessity is clear.  The chairman of the Council of Labor 
Affairs, Chao Shoupo, said two years into its experiment with recruiting 
for sign labor that the government must exercise a firm hand with imported 
workers.  He called illegal and unregistered foreign workers in Taiwan a 
"time bomb for the social order."  "I'd like to very seriously remind 
foreign workers that ROC law appilies to all workers, foreign and 
domestic," he said.  "We are not inviting problems."  In a meeting with the 
English language press to head off "misunderstandings" between foreign 
labor and the government, Chao said labor-exporting nations including 
Thailand and the Philippine must educate their citizens about ROC law 
before coming to Taiwan.  He said countries of origin were entirely 
responsible for such orientation programs and other such services for 
their nationals' stay in Taiwan.
     Chao said the two Thai workers, deported after leading a strike of 
some 600 Thailaborers at a factory in Taichung on Feb. 24-25, had illegally 
initiated the labor action.  He said foreign workers have as much right to 
join unions and strike as local workers, but that such action must be 
undertaken through a union or addressed as a labor dispute for arbitration 
by the CLA.  He added the employer had exercise his option not to renew the 
workers' contracts and work permits.  "Legally, therefore, neither the 
government nor the employers were guity of wrong doing," Chao said.  
But the chairman also took pains to emphasize that the ROC's stance on 
foreign labor was little different from that of the United States and other 
Countries that operate under a "double standard" for foreign workers.  
Chao said the CLA was pushing a revision of the labor standards law to 
extend for eign workers' permits form two years to three.  But he also 
said a freeze on the importation of Thai workers remains a possibility in 
the ongoing dispute over the practices of employment brokers.
    Chao vehemently be nounced brokers which charge foreign workers 
exorbitant fees to locate jobs in Taiwan.  He said indenturement to broker, 
who are allowed by Thai law to deduct up to NT$38,000 from workers' 
salaries, had a harmful effect on morale and prompted foreign workers to 
join the lucrative illegal labor market.  Chao said foreign laborers help 
boost the local economy but said the integration of those workers into 
Taiwan's society has never been the CLA's intention.  Roughly 8,000 foreign 
laborers have joined the ROC workforce since the opening of the labor 
market in 1992 in a bid to ease a critical labor shortage.  Chao reiterated 
that for eign labor must not infringe upon job opportunities for Taiwan 
Workers, cannot be allowed to lead to immigration or creation of Social 
disorder, and must not interfere with the industrial upgrading and 
production automation.  But in an addendum to these underlying principles, 
Chao said the government held a deliberately "strice" policy to ward 
blue collar foreign workers while it was "relaxed" to ward those 
categorized as white collar.  Chao based his reasoning on the relative 
numbers and educational back ground of either category, and said he 
believed white collar workers will not bring "other problems," such as 
crime and social instability, into Taiwan.  Chao Championed labor condition 
in the R.O.C. Unlike many countries, he claimed foreign laborers, whose 
primary attraction is a willingness to work for considerably lower wages 
than Taiwan workers, were protected by local labor law.  Except in the case 
of housemaids and nursing aides, the ROc demands foreign workers receive 
the minimum monthly wage of NT$13,350.
