After a ban on Chinese over-the-top (OTT) service providers operating in Taiwan, the government is mulling an amendment to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to prevent Taiwanese firms from serving as agents or distributors for Chinese companies in industries that are not open to Chinese investment, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs banned Chinese OTT service providers by publishing a list of prohibited Chinese commercial activities, which forced iQiyi (愛奇藝), China’s largest video streaming platform, to cease operations in Taiwan.
Given the complexity of economic exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, it is almost impossible to lay down individual sets of rules for every Chinese product or service that is banned, so concerned agencies have met to discuss the possibility of amending the act and creating a rule that would apply to all prohibited Chinese economic activities, the source said.
A proposal to amend articles that define the Chinese economic activities that are banned and penalties for breaching the ban has been put forward, but officials have not yet agreed on how they should be amended or whether the penalties should be criminal or administrative, they said.
Aside from serving as a distributor for Chinese OTT service providers, infractions include opening bookstores as part of a Chinese franchise and serving as an agent to solicit Taiwanese students for Chinese education institutions, both of which are prohibited, they said.
Some Chinese companies whose products or services are banned in Taiwan have been able to conceal their operations by using their lower inventory costs or promising exclusive dealerships to entice Taiwanese firms to serve as their proxies or agents, making it difficult for the authorities to trace the sources of their funding, they said.
In other developments, the Mainland Affairs Council has announced a proposed amendment that would reduce the six years that contract employees at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong must wait before obtaining permanent residency in Taiwan.
The office is currently staffed with 12 Taiwanese and about 50 Hong Kongers.
Acting Representative to Hong Kong Kao Ming-tsun (高銘村) was forced to return to Taiwan in July after he refused to sign an affidavit agreeing to Beijing’s “one China” principle, which led to his request to renew his work visa being rejected by the Hong Kong government.
After Beijing imposed national security legislation on Hong Kong, the remaining staff members have expressed concern that Beijing might level trumped-up charges against them, such as colluding with foreign separatist forces.
Although none of them have resigned over personal security concerns, a source familiar with the matter said that the government has planned to ease the permanent residency rule as a way to show its care and concern for them.
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