Chinese state-sponsored online job banks have created interfaces that require Taiwanese to register personal information, which would result in that information being obtained by the Chinese government, academics said yesterday.
The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) stipulate that Taiwanese online job banks are not allowed to post job vacancies in China, or they would face fines of NT$100,000 to NT$500,000.
However, a slew of Chinese online job banks — including zhaopin.com (智聯招聘), Ahighpin.cn (智聯卓聘), lagou.com (拉勾網), 51job.com and zhipin.com (Boss直聘) — allow Taiwanese to sign up for accounts using a cellphone, which means they do not have to be in China to look for jobs and can have interviews online.
Photo screengrab from the Internet
Taiwanese wanting to use the Chinese job banks are required to select “Taiwan, China” when registering their location, which acknowledges Beijing’s “one China” principle, academics said.
China is compromising Taiwanese sovereignty in every possible way and is seeking to extend its governance to Taiwan by imposing its view that “Taiwan is a part of Chinese territory” through the Internet, National Tsinghua University Institute of Sociology associate professor Shen Hsiu-hua (沈秀華) said.
“While not having direct rule over Taiwanese, [China] is essentially ruling Taiwanese at home and in China through the Internet,” Shen said.
“People who have little or no sense of the threat and value the convenience brought by the Internet are put in danger of being monitored by the Chinese government, even though they are in Taiwan,” she said.
Chinese online job banks are supported by the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, as they need to have government connections before they can start operations, which is why their Taiwanese counterparts failed when they tried to launch their services in China, Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology associate research fellow Lin Thung-hong (林宗弘) said.
All data entered into Chinese online job banks are linked to Beijing’s databases under the direct control of the Chinese Communist Party, which creates a “political file” for each Taiwanese they monitor, Lin said, adding that the only Taiwanese who are sheltered are interns working for Taiwanese companies at branch offices in China.
If Beijing says that the political record of a Taiwanese is tarnished, it would seriously hurt their chances of receiving a promotion, Lin said.
The number of Taiwanese working as cadets in offices or branch offices set up by companies in China has decreased from 430,000 in 2014 to about 400,000 last year, he said, citing Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics data.
The advantages of working in China are diminishing due to the negative effect the US-China trade war has had on the Chinese economy, he said, adding that job prospects there are bleak.
People thinking about working in China should consider this, as well as the increased political risks they would face, he said.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS