TAIPEI: Following the steps of the US and Japan, the Taiwanese Economic Affairs Ministry on Wednesday tightened control over Chinese investments due to national security concerns, reported Taipei Times.
Based on new regulations that came into effect from Wednesday, Chinese military-owned companies and Chinese Communist Party-owned companies were banned from investing in Taiwan. "There is a worldwide trend of scrutinizing investments from China more closely due to concerns that China could gain access to key technologies and information," said Investment Commission spokesman Su Chi-yen.
"Protecting business intelligence is a matter of national security. The US, Germany, Japan and Australia have all been regulating Chinese investments more strictly, not just Taiwan," added Su.
Moreover, Taiwan has brought new regulations to close loopholes that could be used by Chinese companies to skirt regulations. Articles 3, 4 and 6 of the Measures Governing Investment Permits to the People of the Mainland Area have been changed to expand the definition of Chinese capital, reported Taipei Times.
Su informed that the rule further stated that any company found to break the regulations will face a maximum penalty of New Taiwanese Dollar 25 million and have to divest immediately.
The ministry also announced an amendment to the Regulations Governing Investment or Technical Cooperation in the Mainland Area, tightening control of Taiwanese technology and intellectual property (IP) going to China, reported Taipei Times.
"Selling or licensing Taiwanese technology or IP will now be considered 'technical cooperation' and must be approved in advance," the ministry said in a release.