NSC to regulate high-tech labor across the Strait

The National Science Council (NSC) will soon regulate high-tech professionals who wish to obtain employment in China.

The regulations would cover R&D experts and professionals working in diverse fields such as the military, semiconductor fabrication and manufacturing, aviation, shipbuilding and anesthetic production.

NSC officials said, however, that the list of industries to be regulated would be established by the end of this week after it discusses the issue with industry representatives .

In the future, professionals from the regulated industries would have to file an application one month before taking up any similar position across the Strait.

"We hope the regulations will affect as few people as possible," said NSC Vice Chairman Huang Wen-hsiung (黃文雄) at a press conference yesterday.

Huang said the thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display industry might also be added to the list.

NSC officials said the Ministry of Economic Affairs would finalize the list of regulated industries next week.

When the regulations take effect, Huang said, professionals in regulated industries who had been working in China will be obligated to file applications to the government within six months. Evaluating each application file, officials said, should take less than 10 days.

Approved applications, Huang added, might be cancelled if illegal acts which threaten Taiwan's national security and interests are exposed.

In addition, approved professionals working in China will be bound by Taiwanese law prohibiting the release of business secrets.

According to the draft, violators would be punished under Article 90 of the Statute Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例). The penalty is a NT$100,000 to NT$500,000 fine.

The original idea of setting a limit on the number of professionals working in China was abandoned, Huang said.

A list of individual professionals, however, might still be established based on the notification of employers after experts leave their jobs, Huang said. Another option, Huang said, might be to abandoning the idea of listing individuals.

"The decision is up to the Cabinet," Huang said, adding that the draft of regulations will be sent to the Cabinet next week.

Peng Li-chun (彭麗春), an NSC official, said that the Cabinet would also decide whether a specific window would be established for receiving applications.

NSC officials said that the regulations would only apply to professionals in regulated industries rather than universities and government-funded research institutes, such as the Industrial Technology Research Institute and the Chung-shan Institute of Science and Technology.

Chow San-yi (周山一), an NSC counselor, said that both the industry and the government should maintain a good working environment and industrial culture to keep professionals in Taiwan.

"We have to reach a balance between maintaining people's freedom and ensuring safety when transferring technology overseas," Chow said.