Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) questioned whether China Steel Express Corp’s (中鋼運通) hiring practices present a national security risk during a Legislative Yuan session today.
China Steel Express, a subsidiary of state-owned China Steel (中鋼), employs nearly 20 percent Chinese crew members on its ships.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) promised to review the matter and handle it swiftly, with Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) also pledging to assess and improve the situation.
Photo courtesy of China Steel Corp
The Legislative Yuan invited Cho and other officials to attend a meeting on the supplementary government budget for this year.
During the meeting, Hung said the state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) and CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) both prioritize hiring foreign crews for their vessels while excluding Chinese crewmembers.
He then went on to ask why China Steel Express does not implement the same hiring practices.
If a crisis occurs in the Taiwan Strait, would the Chinese crewmembers listen to the Chinese government or the Taiwanese shipping company, Hung asked National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥).
The situation is a national security risk, Hung added.
The ministry shares Hung’s concerns about how sensitive information could potentially be leaked, to Taiwan’s disadvantage, Kuo said in response.
Hung criticized the Ministry of Economic Affairs for failing to influence China Steel Express.
China Steel Express ignored the labor unions that called for the company to hire more Taiwanese workers, and when compared to Taipower and CPC, has a shallow understanding of national security, Hung said.
Kuo promised that he would discuss the issue with China Steel and ask for short-term improvements.
Cho said that he would ask the Ministry of Economic Affairs to apply appropriate restrictions to Chinese and foreign crews’ in day-to-day operations and to implement strong control mechanisms for crisis situations to ensure the company can continue to function while protecting national security.
Hung also said the ministry could gradually reduce the number of Chinese crew members over the next two months, adding that the nation should minimize risks in state-owned businesses, especially those that transport key supplies.
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