Lawmakers in the legislature’s Transportation Committee lashed out at National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairwoman Bonnie Peng (彭芸) yesterday, accusing the commission of being powerless to regulate Chinese investment in the telecommunications industry.
Peng and NCC officials were asked to brief the committee on Far EasTone Telecommunication’s (遠傳電信) announcement last week that China Mobile (中國移動), China’s largest telecoms carrier, would invest in the nation’s third largest telecoms operator by purchasing a 12 percent stake in the firm.
Should the deal go through, it is estimated it will cost China Mobile NT$17.7 billion (US$534 million), less than 1 percent of its annual revenues.
The companies signed an agreement in Hong Kong and made the announcement through a Web cast.
Far EasTone’s share price has risen to NT$37.25 as at the close of trading yesterday, from NT$35.2 on April 29.
The unexpected move incurred criticism from lawmakers on the Transportation Committee. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said the announcement had been made to cause speculation on the markets. Lo claimed that Far Eastern Group had been able to boost its total market value to NT$94.3 billion following the announcement.
“[The announcement] is intended to cheat and lie to individual investors in the stock market so they will invest in the company,” Lo said. “But the NCC have done nothing about it.”
Lo said the maximum penalty of NT$600,000 for violating the Act Governing Relations between peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) meant nothing to the company.
Peng said the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) remained the nation’s highest authority when approving Chinese investment in the telecommunications industry. The NCC was only planning to allow Chinese investment in second-category telecoms carriers, not first-category carriers, she said.
The Telecommunications Act (電信法) states that first category businesses hold licenses allowing them to construct networks and offer services, whereas second category firms can only lease networks to offer services.
“Chinese firms are prohibited from investing in telecommunication services,” Peng said, adding that the MAC is canvasing suggestions from different administrative authorities to formulate a list of industries in which Chinese firms would be allowed to invest.
Peng said the NCC has asked Far EasTone to brief the commission about the investment on Monday. The firm’s representative assured the commissioners that so far it had yet to receive any investment from China Mobile.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said Far EasTone had openly challenged the government because the NCC sets no standards and different government authorities were busy passing the buck, rather than handling the problem.
Peng said the commission was entitled to revoke Far EasTone’s license if it deemed the investment a serious violation of the Telecommunications Act. Yeh encouraged Peng to take action.
KMT Legislators Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) and Yang Jen-fu (楊仁福) also criticized government officials.
Yang Jen-fu asked officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the MAC to work with the NCC to handle the matter.
Also See: Widening the door for PRC spying
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique