Control Yuan: Shopee's Mainland Capital Review Decision-Making Dispersed, Widespread Store-to-Store Service Hides Risks
Taiwan's Control Yuan stated that the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Investment Commission had dispersed decision-making responsibility when reviewing Shopee's investment case for mainland capital, and that Shopee's widespread store-to-store service may pose potential risks. It urged the Ministry of Digital Affairs to study the establishment of a tiered management mechanism for cross-border data transfers.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 6, 2026 at 19:28
- 🔍 Collected: May 6, 2026 at 20:01 (33 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 6, 2026 at 20:26 (24 min after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Kao Hua-chien, Taipei, 6th) The Control Yuan said today that the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Investment Commission had dispersed decision-making responsibility when reviewing Shopee's investment case for mainland capital, and that Shopee's widespread store-to-store service may pose potential risks, suggesting continuous review from the perspectives of national security and public governance. In addition, facing large e-commerce platforms collecting vast amounts of national data, the Ministry of Digital Affairs should study the establishment of a tiered management mechanism for cross-border data transfers.
Control Yuan members Lai Chen-chang and Lai Ting-ming stated in a press release in April last year that, according to reports, the major shareholder of Shopee's parent company, Sea Limited, is Hong Kong Tencent, and its current directors have strong ties to Chinese Communist Party political and business figures. This platform is suspected of having a mainland capital background and controls personal data and financial flow information of Taiwanese citizens, which may affect information security and economic sovereignty; they had applied for an automatic investigation.
Regarding investment reviews of cross-border e-commerce platforms in Taiwan, Lai Chen-chang and Lai Ting-ming today presented an investigation report, pointing out that the Investment Commission's practical review primarily relies on equity ratios as the core basis, highly dependent on formal documents and information disclosed by investors. However, for multinational corporations' common multi-layered holding structures, board influence, strategic decision-making power, and capital dependence—the judgment of "substantive control"—there is a lack of concrete operational guidelines. Furthermore, continuous supervision after approval and tracking of equity changes are passive, insufficient to prevent risks from changes in investment structure.
Control Yuan members said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs should continue to refer to international anti-tax avoidance and anti-money laundering systems (such as ultimate beneficial owner disclosure mechanisms) to establish a penetrative review mechanism and clear judgment indicators. It should also study the introduction of risk-oriented review methods, establish a normalized monitoring, data integration, and early warning system, and strengthen audit powers and information disclosure requirements to respond to challenges from new capital structures, timely grasp equity changes and changes in substantive control, and ensure investment cases continue to comply with regulations and national security requirements.
Control Yuan members pointed out that the Investment Commission's review mechanism for Shopee's investment case as mainland capital involved multiple inquiries to relevant agencies and repeated requests for applicants to supplement information to clarify points of contention. However, differences in information掌握 among agencies, repetitive review processes, and the failure to form binding integrated judgments on key doubts not only dispersed decision-making responsibility but also affected the rigor of the review. A decision was only made after the Investment Commission convened a working group meeting to integrate opinions.
Control Yuan members said that the process from application to approval took more than half a year, longer than the two-month processing period stipulated in Article 8 of the Statute for Investment by Foreign Nationals. Although the Investment Commission could argue that the statutory period only begins after application materials are complete, supplemented, and clarified by inter-agency coordination, it still indicates that inter-agency opinion integration and review efficiency need further improvement.
Control Yuan members believe that facing large e-commerce platforms collecting vast amounts of national data, which may involve cross-border circulation, the current specific controls and tiered risk mechanisms for cross-border data transfers are still limited. The Ministry of Digital Affairs should thoroughly review this and study the establishment of a tiered management mechanism.
Control Yuan members' investigation found that Shopee's e-commerce platform currently has a widespread network of store-to-store and unmanned pickup points, forming a highly dispersed and deeply localized distribution network. Experts consulted pointed out that this may still pose potential risks in terms of crime prevention, public order maintenance, circulation of prohibited goods, consolidated transport verification, and wartime material transportation. This shows that the current decentralized management framework needs strengthening in overall risk identification and horizontal inter-agency information integration. Relevant competent authorities should continue to improve governance mechanisms from the perspectives of national security and public governance.
Control Yuan members pointed out that with the development of e-commerce and changes in capital flow models, there is a discrepancy between the actual operating scale of some operators and their regulatory classification. The Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Financial Supervisory Commission should prudently assess whether to introduce supplementary risk indicators or diversified judgment mechanisms, while balancing institutional stability and industrial development. (Editor: Hsieh Chia-chen) 1150506
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(Central News Agency reporter Kao Hua-chien, Taipei, 6th) The Control Yuan said today that the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Investment Commission had dispersed decision-making responsibility when reviewing Shopee's investment case for mainland capital, and that Shopee's widespread store-to-store service may pose potential risks, suggesting continuous review from the perspectives of national security and public governance. In addition, facing large e-commerce platforms collecting vast amounts of national data, the Ministry of Digital Affairs should study the establishment of a tiered management mechanism for cross-border data transfers.
Control Yuan members Lai Chen-chang and Lai Ting-ming stated in a press release in April last year that, according to reports, the major shareholder of Shopee's parent company, Sea Limited, is Hong Kong Tencent, and its current directors have strong ties to Chinese Communist Party political and business figures. This platform is suspected of having a mainland capital background and controls personal data and financial flow information of Taiwanese citizens, which may affect information security and economic sovereignty; they had applied for an automatic investigation.
Regarding investment reviews of cross-border e-commerce platforms in Taiwan, Lai Chen-chang and Lai Ting-ming today presented an investigation report, pointing out that the Investment Commission's practical review primarily relies on equity ratios as the core basis, highly dependent on formal documents and information disclosed by investors. However, for multinational corporations' common multi-layered holding structures, board influence, strategic decision-making power, and capital dependence—the judgment of "substantive control"—there is a lack of concrete operational guidelines. Furthermore, continuous supervision after approval and tracking of equity changes are passive, insufficient to prevent risks from changes in investment structure.
Control Yuan members said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs should continue to refer to international anti-tax avoidance and anti-money laundering systems (such as ultimate beneficial owner disclosure mechanisms) to establish a penetrative review mechanism and clear judgment indicators. It should also study the introduction of risk-oriented review methods, establish a normalized monitoring, data integration, and early warning system, and strengthen audit powers and information disclosure requirements to respond to challenges from new capital structures, timely grasp equity changes and changes in substantive control, and ensure investment cases continue to comply with regulations and national security requirements.
Control Yuan members pointed out that the Investment Commission's review mechanism for Shopee's investment case as mainland capital involved multiple inquiries to relevant agencies and repeated requests for applicants to supplement information to clarify points of contention. However, differences in information掌握 among agencies, repetitive review processes, and the failure to form binding integrated judgments on key doubts not only dispersed decision-making responsibility but also affected the rigor of the review. A decision was only made after the Investment Commission convened a working group meeting to integrate opinions.
Control Yuan members said that the process from application to approval took more than half a year, longer than the two-month processing period stipulated in Article 8 of the Statute for Investment by Foreign Nationals. Although the Investment Commission could argue that the statutory period only begins after application materials are complete, supplemented, and clarified by inter-agency coordination, it still indicates that inter-agency opinion integration and review efficiency need further improvement.
Control Yuan members believe that facing large e-commerce platforms collecting vast amounts of national data, which may involve cross-border circulation, the current specific controls and tiered risk mechanisms for cross-border data transfers are still limited. The Ministry of Digital Affairs should thoroughly review this and study the establishment of a tiered management mechanism.
Control Yuan members' investigation found that Shopee's e-commerce platform currently has a widespread network of store-to-store and unmanned pickup points, forming a highly dispersed and deeply localized distribution network. Experts consulted pointed out that this may still pose potential risks in terms of crime prevention, public order maintenance, circulation of prohibited goods, consolidated transport verification, and wartime material transportation. This shows that the current decentralized management framework needs strengthening in overall risk identification and horizontal inter-agency information integration. Relevant competent authorities should continue to improve governance mechanisms from the perspectives of national security and public governance.
Control Yuan members pointed out that with the development of e-commerce and changes in capital flow models, there is a discrepancy between the actual operating scale of some operators and their regulatory classification. The Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Financial Supervisory Commission should prudently assess whether to introduce supplementary risk indicators or diversified judgment mechanisms, while balancing institutional stability and industrial development. (Editor: Hsieh Chia-chen) 1150506
Choose to stand with facts, every sponsorship you make is a force to protect press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency "First-hand News" APP to stay updated with the latest news.
The text, images, and audio-visual content of this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and utilized without authorization.
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