The opening up of Taiwan’s mailing list compilation and mailing service industry under the cross-strait service trade agreement could give Chinese investors free access to information regarding politicians’ vote brokers and the shareholders of the nation’s listed companies, an observer of cross-strait affairs warned yesterday.
Cross-Strait Agreement Watch convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said many Taiwanese companies commission mailing list compilations and mailing service providers to help them send business-related information to their customers.
“Companies forward their mailing lists to these service providers, which then print the firm’s information and send it to every person on the list,” Lai said.
Due to the nature of the industry, Chinese investors might be able to get lists of shareholders of listed companies, membership rosters of political parties and the personal information of legislators’ vote brokers if they are allowed to take control of such service providers, Lai said.
Lai said it would be a disaster if legislators accidentally picked a Chinese-invested mailing service supplier to help them send holiday greeting cards to their vote brokers, adding that it was difficult for politicians or government officials to verify whether a company was financially supported by Chinese investors.
The service supplier could also gain the upper hand in the ownership dispute of a Taiwanese company by acquiring the list of its shareholders, Lai added.
Echoing Lai’s concerns, Democratic Progressive Party’s Department of China Affairs director Honigmann Hong (洪財隆) said there was a great likelihood that the membership rosters of major political parties could fall into the hands of Chinese investors if they were to control such service suppliers.
“If that happens, it could pose grave problems to the nation,” Hong said.
Despite these apparent threats to the nation, Hong said the impact assessment report on the pact released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs late last month failed to mention any of them when discussing the mailing service industry.
“Instead, the report merely said that the pact would have only a limited impact on the industry because the number of mailing service suppliers has dropped significantly after the government implemented the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法),” Hong said.
Meanwhile, representatives from the tourism industry, one of the 64 sub-sectors Taiwan has agreed to open up to China, also voiced concerns over the possibility of Chinese investors gaining access to the personal information of Taiwanese if the pact was to be ratified.
“In the future, if Taiwanese sign up for a tour package offered by a Chinese-invested travel agency in the country, the agency would naturally gain their personal information and that is worrisome,” the representatives said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS