TAIPEI - SEX workers in Taiwan have cautiously welcomed a government plan to legalise prostitution, but the scheme is being opposed by an alliance of women's groups who fear it will breed crime and violence.

A red-light area similar to Amsterdam's famed canalside sex-for-sale district has been proposed for the capital Taipei, with legal and zoning measures due in place within six months.

Prostitutes and their supporters say they see a ray of hope after many years of campaigning for legalisation to protect them from both customers and police, but some are concerned about being moved into special zones.

'I hope the government will allow us to stay where we are and give us legal protection,' said one prostitute who wanted to be identified as Hsiao-feng. 'I don't want to move to a new place to start again.' Ms Hsiao-feng earns a living in Taipei's Wanhua district, which is believed to be home to thousands of sex workers plying their trade illegally even though prostitution was outlawed in the city in 1997.

'Who wants to have red-light districts near homes?' she asks. 'The government would have to put us in the mountains but then we can't make a living because nobody wants to travel that far.' Observers say paid-for sex remains big business and the ban has driven it underground, where brothels operate under euphemistic names such as tea houses, massage parlours, clubs and even skin-care salons.

There are also women known as 'liu ying' or 'floating orioles' - a metaphor for flirtatious and seductive women - who find patrons on the streets. -- AFP