Taiwan’s investment regulator has asked Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) to exit by the end of August because its local entity is registered as Singaporean instead of Chinese.
“We have asked Alibaba to leave,” Investment Commission acting executive secretary Emile Chang (張銘斌) said by telephone. “We want mainland investors who invest in Taiwan to follow the rules.”
Alibaba breached Taiwan’s investment regulations by going through Singapore even though it is a Chinese company, Chang said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
While Alibaba registered in Taiwan in 2008, the company’s filings for its US share sale last year provided the evidence of Chinese control over the company’s Singapore unit, he said.
Like many Chinese corporations, Alibaba relies on holding firms to operate and raise funds overseas, with the US-listed entity being a Cayman Islands company.
Chinese business investments in Taiwan require approval from the Investment Commission.
“We will actively communicate with related parties to clarify the issues and, if necessary, will take proper actions to protect the legitimate interests of Alibaba.com,” the Hangzhou-based company said in an e-mailed statement.
While the application process for an investment from China takes about two months, Chang said he “cannot guarantee” that any new application by Alibaba to operate domestically would be approved before the August deadline.
“Alibaba’s Singapore subsidiary did not get approval from my office,” Chang said. “They can choose to sell the branch to another investor” or close it.
Meanwhile, Alibaba founder Jack Ma (馬雲) said the company followed local laws when it entered the market.
“Taiwan is very important for Alibaba,” Ma told reporters yesterday after delivering a speech to university students in Taipei. “As a global company, no matter where we go in the world, we need to comply with the local laws.”
Alibaba employs about 100 people in Taiwan and Alibaba.com has 140,000 registered users in the market, the company says.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique