The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked.
Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report.
Photo: Ou Yu-hsiang, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said that China has been dumping beer in Taiwan, and e-commerce platforms such as Taobao have been taking similar actions.
Taobao drew attention for purchasing large advertisements in Taipei metro stations in November last year.
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Cynthia Kiang (江文若) said the ministry has already fined Taobao for these ads, which were outside the scope of its approved business activities.
Taobao has through the first half of this year to make corrections, Kiang said.
Asked if the ministry would revoke Taobao’s investment permit if fines prove ineffective, Kiang said that its license would be revoked and it may be required to withdraw its investment if it does not make changes, Kiang said.
The ministry said that Taobao is registered in Taiwan under two business categories: electronic information supply services and advertisement leaflet distribution.
Taobao’s advertisements in metro stations exceed the scope of “advertisement leaflet distribution,” the ministry said.
Taobao contravened Article 73 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and Article 9 of the Regulations Governing Investment Permits by Mainland Area People (大陸地區人民來台投資許可辦法) by failing to apply for approval before changing its investment plan, it said.
According to these regulations, those who engage in unauthorized investment can be fined from NT$120,000 to NT$25 million and required to cease, withdraw or rectify the investment.
If the investor fails to comply with requests, the competent authority may impose repeated fines and revoke the investor’s approval or registration.
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