Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday voiced concern that national security might be compromised after a major contractor for government information systems was bought using Chinese capital.
During a question-and-answer session at the legislature with Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥), DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said state secrets could be exposed to China after Data Systems Consulting Co (鼎新電腦) was taken over by Chinese capital.
“What kind of national security do we have left?” Lee said.
Lee raised the issue after the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported on Sunday that Data Systems, a major enterprise resources planning firm, recently changed its status from a foreign-capitalized company to a Chinese-capitalized one.
The company had won more than 200 bids for government projects between 2000 and last year and won two Bureau of Foreign Trade bids last month, prompting concerns that data might be leaked to China, the report said.
Shih told Lee and DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) that the firm, which was founded by Taiwanese, became a foreign capitalized company after it registered abroad, but it changed its status after it was taken over with Chinese capital late last month.
“This is a very special case,” Shih said.
Lee said that the company’s previous bids for ministry projects were illegal as the ministry’s bidding regulations forbids “foreign companies” from participating.
Shih rebutted the allegation, saying that the term “foreign companies” only refers to companies that have not registered in Taiwan as Data Systems is.
“For example, IBM set up a branch in Taiwan. This branch is not considered a foreign company,” Shih said.
Chai called the government “muddle-headed” after the premier said he didn’t know anything about the Data Systems issue.
“Information is one of the most important weapons,” the DPP lawmaker said.
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