The Chinese online shopping platform Taobao left the Taiwanese market at the end of 2020 as a part of Taiwan’s efforts to root out foreign companies used as fronts for Chinese investments. A large number of Taobao advertisements have been seen along Taipei’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), leading customers to believe that the company is making its reappearance in the Taiwanese market around the shopping festival on November 11 or Double 11. The legality of such advertisements has also fallen under scrutiny.
Taiwanese authorities asked Taobao to withdraw Chinese funding or restructure the company within six months if it wished to remain operating in Taiwan in 2020, after which the company made the decision to remove itself from the Taiwanese market. The site’s operator was additionally fined NT$410,000 (US$12,800) for violations.
DPP Legislators Lin Chu-yin (林楚茵) and Puma Shen (沈伯洋) pointed out the illegality of advertisements without a business license in Taiwan and stated that Metro Taipei and the advertising agency should be held accountable.
Lin said the business practices of Taobao include enticing customers with free shipping, collecting personal data and consumer habits, and killing out other domestic e-commerce platforms with pricing that undermines domestic economic order. Shen encouraged the Digital Ministry and other relevant agencies to warn the public that phone numbers and personal financial information could be leaked through the Taobao mobile software. Shen stressed the severity of the risk and the urgency to address the problem.
The Economic Democracy Union added that Taobao’s Facebook page, through which they say they offer customer service in Taiwan, has also clearly violated the Cross-Strait Act.