TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced on Tuesday (April 23) that it is investigating the employment agencies 104 Job Bank and 1111 Job Bank for violating the law by posting job ads to help Chinese employers lure Taiwanese talent to China, reported Liberty Times.

The MAC on Tuesday called on regulatory authorities to investigate whether 104 Job Bank and 1111 Job Bank have violated the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by posting job ads for Chinese companies based in China on their websites. If they are found to have breached this act, the MAC called for the offending webpages to be taken offline and have companies punished in accordance with the law.

As part of the Chinese government's efforts to lure Taiwanese professionals to China, the China Straits Human Resources Service Industrial Park opened in Fuzhou last June. Chinese media reported that eight Taiwanese job agencies including 1111 Job Bank then opened up branch offices in the industrial park that same month.

Also in June, 1111 Chief Executive Officer Chang Chuan-kai (張篆楷) signed a contract with Fuzhou Airlines to create a recruiting service aimed at Taiwanese called "Taiwan Talent Introduction Service." At an event marking the signing, Chang said, "We hope to bring Taiwan's high-end talent to China and let them find a good path out."

Screenshot of "China jobs" section at bottom of 104 Job Bank's Taiwan website.

In the "China jobs" section of the 1111 website, the MAC alleges that in addition to recruiting talent for Taiwanese companies operating in China, which is legal, the company is also aiding Chinese companies to draw Taiwanese talent to their firms in China, a violation of the law. Among these companies, Ruijie, which lists itself as the "leading provider of information and communications technology solutions in China," is offering 20 positions to Taiwanese applicants.

The "China jobs" section of the 104 website uses a U.S. domain but is easily accessible at the bottom of the homepage of its Taiwan website. In the section for jobs on China, Chinese companies have been recently been recruiting Taiwanese Ph.D's to teach in China, including vacancies in private colleges such as Sanming University, Putian University, Yanhuang Technical College, and Minan Normal University.

The MAC explained that Taiwanese companies operating in China can legally use job agencies in Taiwan to recruit candidates. However, the government does not permit Taiwanese job agencies to enable Chinese companies to recruit prospective Taiwanese employees to work in China.

If the two job sites are found to have been in violation of Article 34 the Act, they could face fines of between NT$100,000 and NT$5 million, which will continue to be levied if they continue to break the law, said the MAC.

Screenshot of Ruijie job ad on 1111 Job Bank website.

Even if 104's website recruiting Taiwanese to work in China is based overseas, as long are there are links to it from its site in Taiwan, it is still a violation of the law, according to the MAC. When asked by Liberty Times for comment, 104 simply replied that, "everything is in compliance with the law."

Henry Ho (何啟聖), vice president of 1111 Job Bank, told Liberty Times that his company cooperates with Taiwan Business Associations of Fuzhou and Xiamen to help recruit Taiwanese talent. He claimed that the website's recruitment ads are not illegal.

Ho claimed that although Ruijie is listed as a Chinese company on the website, 1111 actually signed the contract with a Turkish firm.