A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposal to allow Chinese investment in Taiwan’s outlying islands would open the door for Chinese infiltration, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said on Tuesday.
KMT Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) proposed amendments to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) that would allow Chinese manufacturers to participate in industrial development and public construction projects on outlying islands.
The amendments would also open enrollment at colleges and universities on outlying islands to Chinese students, and exempt them from enrollment quota restrictions.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The proposals would “open four doors” to Chinese infiltration, Shen wrote on Facebook.
The first door would allow Chinese companies’ involvement in public infrastructure projects, and exclude them from normal restrictions, he said.
That would weaken Taiwan’s sovereignty and endanger national security by bypassing Article 17 of the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法), as well as provisions in Article 40 of 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), he said.
The second door would allow Chinese companies used for such procurements to send people to the islands, without being subject to normal rules on Chinese working in Taiwan, he said.
The amendments would also bypass rules stipulating that those coming to Taiwan from China for such projects not be allowed to change jobs within one year, he added.
The third door would permit workers and equipment from Chinese manufacturers to be brought into restricted areas, Shen said.
The fourth door is a clause in the proposals that would make the stipulations also applicable to Taiwanese companies, meaning that firms colluding with Beijing could bring in Chinese workers and equipment to the outlying islands, he said.
The national security implications of the proposals would be worse than those of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, the passage of which led to the 2014 Sunflower movement, DPP Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said.
If passed, the proposal would open up all areas of Taiwan’s outlying islands to Chinese spies, Huang said.
“It is being touted as a way to improve the efficiency of infrastructure projects, but in effect, it would open up a back door to China,” she said.
Under current regulations, manufacturers from foreign countries can only bid on public projects if there is a bilateral agreement signed by that country and Taiwan, she said.
Even then, if the project has national security implications, restrictions might be placed on the foreign company, she said.
As China and Taiwan have no such agreement, government tenders must be decided on a case-by-case basis, she added.
Speaking with reporters yesterday, Chen said that the outlying islands are unable to complete infrastructure problems due to a labor shortage.
“The ruling party is unable to solve that labor shortage. Instead of being so pessimistic, people should try to help solve the issue,” he said. “If you want to recall me, go ahead and do so.”
Asked whether the proposal would “open a back door” for China, Chen said that allowing Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan was “already opening the door to China.”
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