Beijing is set to launch a more aggressive initiative to recruit high-tech talent and steal core technologies from Taiwan, experts consulting the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) cautioned in a meeting on Wednesday.
During the meeting, experts were invited to share their views on the direction that China would be heading in terms of politics and the economy after the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last month.
Based on the council’s summary of the meeting, some experts said that China is facing many challenges, including an aging society, unbalanced regional development, and debt accumulated in the real-estate market and local governments.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
While Beijing is seeking to facilitate technological innovation and upgrade its industries, it is short of research and development talent in the high-tech industry and has trouble accessing core technologies controlled by other countries, they said.
Although the added value of strategic new industries had risen to account for 13 percent of GDP in 2022 from 8 percent in 2016, it also shows that it would be challenging to reach its goal of 17 percent of GDP by next year, experts said.
That Beijing did not offer specific economic incentives during the plenary session might have something to do with the upcoming US presidential election, as the results would be crucial in shaping Beijing economic policies, they said.
Although the free-market principle remains key to China’s continued growth, the CCP’s persistent emphasis on national security over economic development and its implementation of increasingly left-leaning policies make it difficult for the nation to carry out that principle in practice, experts said.
The Chinese Central Science and Technology Commission helps to consolidate efforts to develop the high-tech industry, but the management positions of the commission are mostly assumed by bureaucrats who do not have backgrounds in science and technology, they said.
Tension with the US and the EU have risen in recent years due to Beijing’s contravention of the WTO’s rules by overriding free market principles, they said.
As the US and Europe are poised to retaliate with measures to deter such illegal trade practices, China would redouble efforts to recruit high-tech talent and steal core technologies from Taiwan, they said, adding that Taiwan should avoid being a loophole for China to steal technology and talent from democratic countries.
MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference yesterday that there were three lawsuits last week involving China’s alleged recruitment of high-tech talent.
“You can tell the severity and frequency of the incidents if there are three indictments within one week,” Liang said. “This country is founded on technology, and how to maintain our competitive edge in this field is very important.”
In other news, Liang denied that the council is tightening standards for Chinese entertainers to come to Taiwan.
The issue came under scrutiny after the council an entry permit application from Chinese singer Wang Yitai (王以太) after his promotional materials for his upcoming concert in Taiwan contained a photo referring to the nation as “Taipei, China.”
The wording contravened the Regulations on Permission for Entrance of People of the Mainland Area Into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入臺灣地區許可辦法), which bans Chinese entertainers from expressing or spreading statements that would belittle Taiwan’s national status, the council said.
The council has received 40 entry permit applications so far this year, and 120 Chinese entertainers were permitted to enter, Liang said, adding that Wang was the only case that was rejected.
Although the Taiwanese organizer of the concert said that it had nothing to do with the photo and it was produced by MR.Link magazine in China, Liang said that the council could not ascertain who took the photo, but it was published specifically for Wang’s concert.
“We will not actively search for political statements made by any Chinese entertainer,” he said.
Entry permit applications could be rejected because of issues relating to the person they are inviting, not because the organizers did not follow due procedures, he said.
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