Taiwan orders Alibaba's Taobao out for rule violation - reports
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Taiwan has ordered Alibaba's online marketplace Taobao to withdraw from the island within six months for violating investment rules required for a Chinese company, Chinese and Taiwanese media said on Thursday.
Taobao has been fined T$240,000 ($7,860) and must withdraw or transfer its holdings from its operation in Taiwan, China's Xinhua news agency and Taiwan's Economic Daily News quoted the island's investment commission as saying. Taobao and the commission could not immediately be reached for comment.
The commission falls under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and has authority to regulate Chinese investments in Taiwan.
In March, Alibaba's B2B platform Alibaba.com was ordered to leave the island within six months and fined T$120,000 for a similar reason.
The Economic Daily News cited ministry official Emile Chang for its report.
Chinese investments in Taiwan are regulated strictly because Taiwan considers mainland China a political rival, even though trade and economic ties have expanded markedly since the late 2000s.
China deems Taiwan a renegade province and has not ruled out using force to take it back, particularly if the island makes a move toward formal independence.
(Story corrects fourth paragraph to clarify Alibaba.com was ordered to leave Taiwan, not Alibaba Group)
(Reporting by Meg Shen and Twinnie Siu in Hong Kong; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
