The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced a draft bill that would ban Chinese-funded companies from operating research and development (R&D) offices in Taiwan, while toughening rules governing Chinese for-profit businesses establishing subsidiaries in the nation.
The draft amendments to the Measures to Approve Chinese For-profit Businesses Establishing Subsidiaries or Offices in Taiwan (大陸地區之營利事業在臺設立分公司或辦事處許可辦法) state that no Chinese-funded companies may perform R&D activities in Taiwan, with the bill defining “research” as “conducting or compiling market-related analysis and statistics,” the ministry said.
If passed, the bill would change the name of the law to Measures for Approving Chinese For-profit Businesses or its For-profit Business in a Third-party Region Establishing Subsidiaries in Taiwan (大陸地區之營利事業或其於第三地區投資之營利事業在臺設立分公司或辦事處許可辦法), it said.
Photo: Reuters
The bill references the Measures Governing Investment Permits to the People of the Mainland Area (大陸地區人民來臺投資許可辦法) in defining what constitutes a “Chinese for-profit company.”
If 30 percent of a company in a third-party region is directly or indirectly owned by a Chinese firm, or if a Chinese firm could control the entity in a third-party region, that company would be considered a Chinese for-profit enterprise and the Foreign Nationals Investment Act (外國人投資條例) would not apply to it, the ministry said.
The draft amendments would also include clauses to further restrict Chinese companies from headhunting Taiwanese R&D talent, it said.
The ministry cited a Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau probe, which found that 10 Chinese companies had illegally established a subsidiary or R&D branch in Taiwan by pretending to be foreign investors or Taiwanese companies in an attempt to poach talent from Taiwan’s high-tech industries.
The bureau report said that some Chinese companies attempted to pass themselves off as personal offices, subsidiaries of parent companies or belonging to companies established in a third-party region.
Officials said that the draft amendments would allow the government to take a tougher stance on preventing Chinese companies from systematically poaching talent from Taiwanese companies, which could affect the nation’s economic development and national security.
The amendments would also prevent Chinese companies from “launching operations” without officially registering with the government, they added.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the