Although we were not able to meet her, just by seeing her house and getting to know her family situation through her neighbours, we were still able to understand why nine months earlier H. was forced to marry a Taiwanese man 12 years older than her. The desire to change her life forced her to hand herself over, despite the fact that the two could not communicate with each other and that she lacked any knowledge about her partner's life style. This illusion exploded just one week after they had started living together. Upon returning back home, she found herself once more with nothing. In 1999 and 2000, the courts in Can Tho had to deal with over 170 divorce cases involving the 'foreign' factor.
Many cases involve marriages with Taiwanese husbands.
T.N.H., living in Can Tho City, lived with a Taiwanese husband a little longer - four months. Once she managed to get back home she did not return to Taiwan because she wanted to divorce him. She said that when she lived in her husband's village, he did not care about her, the income was too low, and he also did not respect her parents. M.T., whose village was in Vinh Long, had been a waitress in a restaurant in Can Tho City. After living for several months in Taiwan, she could not stand the way they spurned.