Chinese Internet media service operator iQiyi (愛奇藝) cannot establish a local subsidiary under laws regulating cross-strait affairs, Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday in response to questions from lawmakers during a briefing at the Legislative Yuan.
Cheng was at a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee to explain how the government is planning to develop the Internet media industry, which delivers audio, video or other media without an operator controlling the distribution of content, which is referred to as over-the-top (OTT) content.
Some committee members raised the issue of iQiyi , which has submitted its third application for a local subsidiary.
Photo: CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said that 25 percent of the programs on iQiyi are Taiwanese dramas, and the platform could help these programs reach millions of viewers in China, which could encourage Taiwanese producers to produce more TV dramas.
IQiyi has already attracted local users, and allowing it to establish a subsidiary would allow the government to tax it for the revenue it has earned here, Ko said.
A local office could also be held accountable if disputes arose over the firm’s service, she said.
Cheng said that the Regulations Governing Permission for People from the Mainland Area to Invest in Taiwan (大陸地區之營利事業在台設立分公司或辦事處許可辦法) state that OTT services belong to the service category in which Chinese investment is not allowed.
“The iQiyi’s case is currently under review by the Investment Commission, which has sought the opinion of the Ministry of Culture,” Cheng said. “Our response would be that we have to protect our right to broadcast our own cultural content. China has yet to allow Taiwanese OTT operators to offer services in China. All these factors need to be taken in consideration as the commission reviews the case.”
She said the government wants to develop OTT services as they are a great opportunity to transform the broadcasting and television industry.
“In addition to the subsidies and prizes that are already available for people working in the broadcasting and film industries, we hope to expand the investment from the National Development Fund in these two industries,” she said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) said that the ministry should review dramas and movies produced by OTT providers for the Golden Bell Awards or the Golden Horse Award nominations.
The US drama series House of Cards, one of the most popular series on Netflix, an OTT provider, has received Golden Globe Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards and other recognition, she said.
National Communications Commission (NCC) spokesperson Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that the commission is not planning to draft specific laws to regulate OTT service providers, as the majority of nations worldwide are light-handed when it comes to regulating Internet content.
One has to abide by the current regulations if the case involves Chinese investment, Wong said.
However, the NCC is considering relaxing broadcasting regulations so that television channels and OTT service are regulated along the same lines, he said.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS