Taiwan arrests four Vietnamese women in prostitution raid

By Nguyen Quy November 23, 2018 | 07:48 pm PT

A glass of wine is served at a restaurant in Taiwan. Photo by Shutterstock/thanhminhvo

Four Vietnamese women have been detained for providing sexual services to customers at a restaurant in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City.

Taiwan’s immigration officers raided the restaurant in Daliao District Monday, acting upon a tip-off that it housed Vietnamese women who’d entered the territory on tourist visas, but engaged in commercial sex work, The Real Daily reported.

During the police raid, the Vietnamese women were found wearing skimpy clothes and plying male customers with alcoholic drinks.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the hostesses also offered sexual services to customers, police said.

Among the four detainees was a student who came to Taiwan for overseas study before engaging in commercial sex work as a part-time job to cover her tuition fees and living expenses there.

Her arrest means she is in danger of losing her scholarship and being expelled by her school, police said.

In recent years, Taiwan has emerged as a promising destination for Vietnamese workers looking for jobs overseas. As of 2017, there were around 164,000 Vietnamese working under official contracts in Taiwan, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the country’s overseas workforce, according to official statistics.