THE CNMI government has no immediate plans to initiate talks with the Chinese government regarding the establishment of a representative office here.
Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente said although the CNMI government acknowledges the “problems” involving Chinese workers, he is not aware of any administration plan to discuss them with China.
“We recognized though that there is a problem,” he said. “It is a problem that we have acknowledged and we are now trying to resolve it,” Benavente told Variety.
The Chinese government has no diplomatic or trade office in the CNMI although there are about 18,000 Chinese workers in the commonwealth.
Labor and Immigration Secretary Joaquin A. Tenorio said only the executive branch of the government has the power to negotiate for the establishment of a Chinese office here.
A Chinese office, however, may not be the solution to the problem, Benavente said.
“I’m not even sure whether there’s a need to establish an office here. At this point, I cannot comment whether that’s a good thing or not,” he said.
In the meantime, Benavente said the government will continue working with the garment industry to ensure that the rights of its workers are protected.
“We are working with the garment industry. We’ve discussed this matter with them. Our labor and immigration officers are going out and enforcing the law against those doing illegal activities,” he said.
Variety recently learned that some “runaway” garment workers are now into prostitution.
Benavente said the government is serious in its drive against prostitution.
“I think that the message needs to go out in the community that it’s not going to be that easy as in the past. If you run away from your employer and decide to become a prostitute, it’s not going to be that easy––we’re not going to tolerate that,” Benavente said.
