Taiwan’s audit authorities have flagged systemic weaknesses in procurement rules that allow Chinese-made ICT devices to bypass restrictions, posing cybersecurity threats and costing millions to replace.
Taiwan’s audit authorities have warned that Chinese-made information and communications technology equipment is still finding its way into government procurement, despite years of restrictions designed to keep such products out of public agencies. The Ministry of Audit said in its 2025 final accounts report that current rules focus too heavily on the brand name and label on the finished item, leaving gaps in checks on components, assembly and supply-chain origin.
That weakness, the ministry argued, has allowed devices to be rebranded, relabelled or pieced together in Taiwan and then sold as domestically made goods. The Taipei Times reported that the audit office believes this creates both cybersecurity exposure and extra replacement costs for the public sector, especially where equipment is installed in sensitive facilities.
The warning follows a string of cases that have already shaken confidence in Taiwan’s procurement controls. In March 2025, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said Sheng Rui Electronics had imported surveillance components from China, assembled them in Taiwan and falsely marked them as locally made before supplying them to government bodies. Prosecutors later said the company and an affiliate had handled procurement contracts between 2020 and 2024 for ministries, local governments and state-owned firms. A separate case in 2022 also found Chinese-made surveillance recorders falsely labelled as “Made in Taiwan” and carrying the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ MIT Smile Mark, prompting a review of the certification system.
The audit office said the Executive Yuan’s review identified about 3,400 Sheng Rui products in use across government. The Ministry of National Defence confirmed 954 affected surveillance recorders and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and related agencies found dozens more, while industrial parks under the ministry’s oversight had 275 devices. Replacing the equipment would cost more than NT$40 million, the ministry estimated. The audit office also named Zhenteng Technology in separate procurement cases involving surveillance systems at National Sun Yat-sen University’s Renwu campus and the Tainan branch of Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. It said the pattern showed systemic weaknesses rather than isolated misconduct.
In response, the Executive Yuan said agencies already follow Ministry of Digital Affairs rules limiting Chinese-branded ICT products and can send questionable devices for review if they pose information-security risks. It added that procurement rules are being revised to require cyber assessments before purchases are made. Still, the audit office urged officials to go further by checking the origin of key components, tightening supply-chain oversight and building cybersecurity verification into procurement reviews, warning that otherwise high-risk equipment could continue entering public service under Taiwan-made labels.
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