An advocacy group has urged the government to crack down on Shopee Taiwan Co Ltd (樂購蝦皮), as the subsidiary of Singapore-based Sea Ltd (冬海集團) allegedly enables Chinese entities to gather information on Taiwanese users.
The Economic Democracy Union said that the new Cabinet, which took office on Tuesday, should take action, after the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) under its chairman, Huang Tien-mu (黃天牧), allegedly broke its promise to scrutinize platforms accused of being covertly run by Chinese entities and draft stricter regulations to rein in practices that benefit China.
Union researcher Ou Hsu-shao (歐栩韶) said the Shopee Taiwan owner is backed by Chinese capital, with Tencent Holdings (騰訊) holding a 39.7 percent stake in it when the local subsidiary was registered in 2015.
Photo: CNA
It had as of last year reduced its stake to 18.7 percent, but the number of incidents that suggest that the platform does not adhere to the necessary data security standards remains high, Ou told a briefing at the legislature.
“Shopee had three serious network shutdowns last year, in which registration data of Taiwanese sellers and customers were compromised,” Ou said, adding that the explanations given by company executives were not convincing.
“They did not present plans to compensate people whose data were compromised, and the FSC did nothing about it,” Ou said.
A network failure at Cathay United Bank in October last year prompted the FSC to fine it NT$12 million (US$404,040 at the current exchange rate), and the watchdog should have imposed a similar penalty on Shopee, Ou said.
“The FSC does not regulate capital flows at Shopee, as it is operating without an electronic payments license,” Ou said. “Taiwan’s outdated financial regulations do not cover such e-commerce business activities.”
Ou said Huang had promised to take action, “but near the end of last year, the FSC chairman said the process would take until June,” Ou said.
The researcher also accused the e-commerce platform of seeking to drive competitors out of the market.
“Shopee Taiwan initially offered free delivery for all orders. After that led to many people signing up, it raised its delivery rates, including six times last year,” Ou said, adding that such practices contravene the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).
The Economic Democracy Union has received many reports of Chinese entities selling the registration information of Taiwanese users, Ou said.
“Our investigation showed increased fund flows between accounts in Taiwan and China,” union member Chen Ku-hsiung (陳估熊) said.
Such activities might be used for regular money transfers between Taiwan and China that are outside the purview of the government, Chen said, adding that illicit political donations and vote-buying in next year’s presidential and legislative elections could be processed via Shopee.
Contraband articles offered by Chinese sellers are increasingly promoted on Shopee Taiwan, Chen said, adding that importing such goods would contravene the law.
There are health concerns regarding food items, including peanuts, fruits and seafood, offered by Chinese sellers, Chen said.
“Shopee is engaged in illegally importing Chinese goods, but the government is doing nothing about it,” Chen said.
Deputy Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is convener of the Consumer Protection Committee, should make dealing with consumer rights contraventions at Shopee a priority, Chen said.
Ou said that the new Cabinet should scrutinize electronic payments at Shopee.
“If the practices continue and the government does not take action, they could lead to a financial crisis and social turmoil,” Ou said. “The funds of Taiwanese users might become unavailable to them.”
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number