Taiwan has snubbed a multimillion-dollar funding pledge by China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) designed to encourage the country’s young entrepreneurs, saying young talent should stay away from China.
It comes after the Investment Commission on Tuesday ordered Alibaba to withdraw or transfer its holdings from its Taiwanese branch, saying that it registered as a Singaporean company when it was in fact a Chinese company.
On Monday, Alibaba announced the NT$10 billion (US$316 million) funding scheme for young entrepreneurs to help them set up businesses and sell products in China.
Company founder Jack Ma (馬雲) emphasized the benefits of the scheme during a speech to students in Taipei on Tuesday, urging them to “follow your dreams.”
However, the National Development Council said China “should not be given top priority by young people ... given its opaque legal system and implicit rules that could enhance the risks of starting up businesses.”
“The [Alibaba] foundation cannot change the reality. We urge those interested people to start up businesses in Taiwan, cashing in on the resources offered by the government,” the council said in a statement issued late on Tuesday.
Students also expressed reservations after Ma’s speech at National Taiwan University (NTU).
One asked what his motivations were, prompting him to deny that he was trying to “lure Taiwanese talent away.”
“I want to help Taiwan small businesses to sell their products to the mainland and the world,” Ma told the students.
Ko Ying-chen, an NTU law school graduate, said that she was “not sure about his motive.”
“Taiwanese youths are creative and I worry that he would want to plagiarize our ideas,” she said.
Local media were divided yesterday, with some casting doubt on Alibaba’s credibility, while others urged the government to follow Ma and improve support for startups.
In related news, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, is planning to team up with Alibaba to create a new business platform, the Chinese-language Commercial Times said yesterday.
According to the report, Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Ma are working on details of strategies to leverage the strengths of each other’s businesses.
The report cited unnamed sources as saying Alibaba would take advantage of Hon Hai’s hardware manufacturing capability, while Hon Hai would utilize the Hangzhou-based Chinese firm’s expertise in e-commerce development.
The sources said Hon Hai also signed a cooperation agreement with the city of Hangzhou on Monday in a bid to expand the Taiwanese company’s reach in the huge China market.
The report said Hon Hai is expected to produce high-quality products for Taobao.com (淘寶), Alibaba’s major consumer e-commerce platform, which would be sold under the Taobao brand.
In addition, Hon Hai and Alibaba will work with each other to set up a cloud computing center in China, the report said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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