FINDING MIDDLE GROUND:The minister of economic affairs said that there are pros and cons to easing regulations on Chinese investment in Taiwan’s IC design houses
Taipei Times
Date: Jun 07, 2016
By: Lauly Li and Lisa Wang / Staff reporters
The government is to maintain a ban on Chinese investment in local IC design companies,
Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung, center, yesterday talks to reporters before attending a meeting of the legislature’s Economic Affairs Committee in Taipei. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) said yesterday, after reports of pressure from technology firms to remove the restrictions.
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday reported that MediaTek Inc (聯發科) allegedly pressured the Ministry of Economic Affairs to ease restrictions on Chinese companies investing in local chip designers to facilitate an acquisition bid from China.
However, Lee said MediaTek did not manage to pressure ministry officials.
“We will consider transferring the officials to other positions if they cannot handle the stress,” Lee said during a legislative hearing.
Industrial Development Bureau Director-General Wu Ming-ji (吳明機) said any policy change would have to go through due process and would not be easily influenced by any particular company. [FULL STORY]
