Opposition lawmakers yesterday voiced their concerns about planned legislation to restrict skilled science and technology workers from taking employment in China, warning that the move could force outstanding talent out of Taiwan.
The lawmakers issued their warning at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Science, Technology and Information Affairs Committee.
The meeting was originally held to screen the National Science Council's (NSC's) budget plan for space technology development, but legislators focused their questioning on the soon-to-be-unveiled drafts of regulations on the protection of science and technology.
The NSC is scheduled to finalize, by the end of this month, draft legislation on the protection of Taiwan-developed high-tech expertise and on skilled sci-tech workers intending to work in China.
PFP Legislator Lee Yung-ping (李永萍) said it seems to her that Taiwan is entering a "sci-tech martial law" era by restricting the flow of talent and expertise to the other side of the Taiwan Strait.
In her view, Lee said, passage of the draft bills into law would not help raise Taiwan's employment rate, but would only restrict local sci-tech workers' job opportunities and even force top-notch experts out of Taiwan.
To her knowledge, Lee said, some Taiwan-owned companies in China have decided to stop recruiting people from Taiwan in order to avoid the trouble that will ensue if the proposed restrictions are passed into law.
"Several other companies are even helping skilled high-tech workers intending to work at their mainland plants obtain foreign citizenship," she noted.
In response, NSC Chairman Wei Che-ho (
"The new legislation would not cover all industries nor would it restrict all high-tech talent," Wei said.
He added that the new bills would primarily regulate certain sensitive core technologies that are critical to Taiwan's future economic development and may affect Taiwan's national defense and diplomatic interests.
Wei stressed that the NSC is still soliciting opinions from various social quarters and will coordinate with other relevant government agencies in drafting the proposed legislation.
"We certainly will take into account the possible effects that would be caused by the new legislation and will make every possible effort to minimize the negative impact," he added.
Another PFP legislator, Pang Chien-kuo (
"I see no need for the government to enact any new legislation which would only cause apprehension among local industry executives and high-tech personnel," Pang asserted.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS