TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Eight Chinese nationals seen entering the Terminal 3 construction site at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are technical advisers, the Ministry of Transportation said Saturday.

The Chinese experts had been allowed to enter Taiwan for a short period to assist with work on the airport mass rapid transit line, according to the ministry’s Railway Bureau. Subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industry Co., Ltd. had applied to bring them in to work on a ceiling sound absorption project at an MRT station May 25-29, the Liberty Times reported.

The National Immigration Agency had approved their entry to provide a commercial service, so their status was different from other laborers of migrant workers, the bureau said. Work on the special at the A14 MRT station had been completed, so the Chinese technicians would not return to the site, according to the bureau.

Netizens had wondered whether the presence of Chinese nationals at the airport construction zone might pose a threat to security, sensitive systems, and cybersecurity, according to the Liberty Times. The Railway Bureau rejected the suggestions, saying the technicians had entered Taiwan according to immigration regulations, and registered each time they visited the construction site. Their work did not affect sensitive systems or cybersecurity, the bureau said.