Taiwan’s de facto diplomatic mission in India on Wednesday condemned the recent “publications/comments made by certain individuals”, referring to an election billboard put up by a Taiwanese ward chief that had alleged anti-India messaging.The billboard featured a “no” symbol over an inverted Indian flag and a brown-skinned man wearing a turban, triggering a social media furore with several users alleging that the poster reflected racist attitudes.It had been put up by Lee Hung-yi, the ward chief of Gangming borough in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang, who is contesting as an independent candidate in the city council election scheduled to be held in November.Taiwan’s de facto diplomatic mission in New Delhi clarified that the “biased remarks do not represent our stance” adding that they “deeply regret and strongly condemn any form of prejudice, racism and discrimination”.“Taiwan cherishes the values of democracy, inclusivity, and diversity, and support people to people exchanges between Taiwan and India,” the statement said.After backlash, Lee had told CNA on May 13 that he was not opposed to migrant workers as a whole, but was specifically against migrant workers from India. He contended that a policy to open up Taiwan to Indian migrant workers lacked the necessary supporting measures and management regulations.On April 9, Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han said that Taiwan could initially bring in 1,000 Indian workers to work in the fields of manufacturing, agriculture and caregiving. Taipei and New Delhi were discussing matters related to administrative procedures, document verification and health check.In April 2025, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that there were 5,804 Indians in Taiwan, of whom 5,303 were Non-Resident Indians and 501 were Persons of Indian Origin.Written by Sara Varghese. Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.