E-commerce Web site Taobao Taiwan (淘寶台灣) is under investigation by the Investment Commission, which on Sunday said that it received a report that a Chinese investor holds a more than 30 percent stake in the company, in contravention of Taiwanese law.
Taobao Taiwan was launched last year by Claddagh Venture Investment Co (克雷達投資), which is registered in the UK and reportedly linked to China’s Taobao Marketplace (淘寶), which is run by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴).
According to the complaint, Taobao Taiwan shares a platform with Taobao Marketplace, which means there is technically no independence, an Investment Commission official said.
Furthermore, the two Taobaos have a common privacy policy, prompting concerns over the privacy and security of the personal information of Taiwanese, the official said, citing the complaint.
The commission, in collaboration with the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), has been gathering data and information in a probe into the matters and the issue of Taobao Taiwan’s ownership, the official said.
Under Taiwan’s law, Chinese investors must obtain permission from the government to directly or indirectly acquire a stake of more than 30 percent in any Taiwanese company, the official said.
Taobao Taiwan spokesman Ko Chung-ning (柯中甯) denied the allegations that Taobao Taiwan and Taobao Marketplace share a platform and privacy agreement.
The two companies have different platforms and people who register on Taobao Taiwan do not need to sign a privacy agreement with Taobao Marketplace in China, Ko said.
Some products on Taobao Taiwan are sold by overseas suppliers and the privacy agreement is aimed at regulating those companies and ensuring the quality of their products sold to Taiwanese, he said.
The terms of the agreement apply mainly to overseas suppliers, not to shoppers in Taiwan, he said.
Taobao Taiwan sells a wide selection of products, ranging from clothing and stationery to kitchenware and home appliances.
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips, but the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It is a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems. Global chip sales surged more than 19 percent to about US$628 billion last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which forecasts double-digit growth again this year. That is adding urgency to reducing the effects of “forever chemicals” — which are also used to make firefighting foam, nonstick pans, raincoats and other everyday items — as are regulators in the US and Europe who are beginning to