Taiwan's high-tech professionals will not be allowed to work for certain Chinese agencies, but they will be allowed to work in most of China's companies, a Taiwan official said yesterday.
The professionals will be barred from working for Chinese government agencies, military institutions and organizations affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.
Except for these institutions, they will be green-lighted to work for all Chinese companies in China, provided the companies pose no threat to Taiwan's national security and interests.
Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Jonathan Liu (
The draft bill was approved by the Cabinet yesterday but the details still have to be finalized, according to Liu.
"We will set up a mechanism to examine those special cases that are hyper-sensitive," Liu added, "and the government will remain flexible about how it reacts to every situation."
Currently, Taiwan nationals are banned from working for Chinese institutions before gaining permission from the Taiwan government.
The new regulations are seen as a result of the government's decision last March to allow local chipmakers to invest in eight-inch wafer fabrication plants in China if they meet certain conditions.
In addition, the council yesterday also submitted a report to the Executive Yuan on illegal investments by local companies in China-based chipmakers.
Liu said that some Taiwanese companies admitted they had illegally invested in the Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co (SMIC, 中芯國際集成電路), Chinese Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (宏力半導體), and a semiconductor factory in Suzhou called He Jian Technology (和艦科技).
The government has pledged to severely punish local companies that violate the regulations on investing in China.
"These Taiwanese companies have promised to retrieve their investments from China," Liu said.
Liu said, however, that due to the difficulties of tracing capital flow and examining documents owned by Chinese companies, the council cannot be sure if other Taiwanese companies are illegally investing in China or not.
"The government has asked some suspect companies to sign an affidavit stating that they will not invest in such Chinese semiconductor companies." Liu said.
If these companies are found to be dishonest regarding the matter, they could be punished with criminal charges that could result in jail terms of up to 5 years.
The three Chinese companies mentioned above have long been suspected of being partially backed by Taiwanese capital and know-how.
Liu declined to reveal the Taiwanese companies which have illegally invested in these Chinese firms or the total amount that was invested.
He said that once the investigation is completed, the government will make a detailed report to the public.
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