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.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
RSS