Taiwan Democracy Watch yesterday voiced concern over the inking of a collaborative agreement between Pin Shang Credit Investigation Co (品尚徵信), based in China’s Fujian Province, and Taiwan’s China Credit Information Service Ltd (CCIS, 中華徵信所), saying that information held by the Taiwanese firm could be used by the Chinese credit investigation industry.
The two companies signed the agreement last month, according to a news release that month by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
The agreement allows credit investigation firms across the Taiwan Strait to use “big data” for applied research, development and merging of the cross-strait economy, the report said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
With support from CCIS, the People’s Bank of China’s Fujian branch has already conducted 310 investigations of Taiwanese corporations or individuals, it said.
Cross-strait collaboration on financial investigations is not legal, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, citing a lack of comprehensive Chinese legislation about the industry and the desire to protect Taiwanese from having their financial information being used for other purposes.
The council said that according to its understanding, CCIS was only providing public information of domestic companies, such as corporate finances as listed by the Ministry of Finance’s Financial Data Center, or registration data.
Data on Taiwan’s Join Credit Information Center has been kept off-limits, the council said.
Collaboration between cross-strait financial investigation firms goes back at least two decades, serving as the basis for credit and insurance policies in China for Taiwanese businesspeople, CCIS vice chief executive officer Yu Chien-chug (余建中) said.
The EU Chamber of Commerce in China in a report in August said that Beijing has amassed a significant amount of data in preparation for the launch of its Social Credit for Corporations project next year.
Corporations would be assigned an economic and political rating, and corporate actions could be considered “harming national interest” under the system, the report said.
Should the system be established, Taiwanese businesses could be forced to support the so-called “1992 consensus,” Taiwan Democracy Watch chairman Sung Cheng-en (宋承恩) said.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted to making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
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