A platform launched by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) purportedly to help young Taiwanese find work opportunities and exchange programs in China poses serious privacy and national security risks, a Taiwanese official said yesterday.
The platform, called “Taiwan Youth e-Home” (台青e家), could send users’ personal information directly to the TAO, and is part of Beijing’s “united front” strategy and its attempts to extend its jurisdiction over Taiwan, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Government agencies are taking steps to block or restrict access to the platform, they said.
Photo: Screen grab from the Taiwan Youth e-Home Web site
TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華) has described Taiwan Youth e-Home as a public-interest online platform created to support young Taiwanese pursuing opportunities in China.
Nearly 2,000 companies have joined the platform and posted almost 6,000 job openings, he said, adding that it was designed to address information gaps for Taiwanese seeking to study, intern, work or start businesses in China.
However, a review of the platform’s job listings shows that some positions offer monthly salaries of only 2,000 to 4,000 yuan (US$296 to US$592), well below Taiwan’s minimum wage when converted into New Taiwan dollars.
Some jobs also do not offer a five-day workweek, and the salaries would be difficult to live on, especially in China’s largest cities, the Taiwanese official said.
Taiwanese who register on the platform are effectively handing their personal information directly to the TAO, the official said.
“The Chinese Communist Party does not respect or protect personal data,” they said. “There is every reason to believe such information could be misused.”
Taiwanese should not provide personal or family information through the platform, as doing so could create significant information security risks, they said.
The official also questioned the credibility of Beijing’s employment campaign, saying that China continues to face high youth unemployment.
“The Chinese government cannot even guarantee jobs for its own population, yet it claims it can help Taiwanese youth find employment or start businesses in China,” the official said. “That is simply not credible.”
In the past, Beijing relied on intermediaries to recruit Taiwanese, the official said.
Although Beijing has no jurisdiction over Taiwan, the platform reflects its efforts to exercise authority over Taiwanese, the official said.
“Given Beijing’s hostility toward Taiwan and its stated goal of annexing the country, Taiwanese should not expect the Chinese government to act in their interests,” they added.
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