National Communications Commission (NCC) Commissioner Katherine Chen (陳憶寧) had an official one-on-one meeting with US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael O’Reilly during her trip to Washington last month, the first such exchange since the commission was established a decade ago, the NCC said yesterday.
The announcement came amid a media frenzy over President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) telephone call with US president-elect Donald Trump.
NCC Planning Department Deputy Director Chi Hsiao-cheng (紀效正) said NCC Chairwoman Nicole Chan (詹婷怡) sent Chen to attend the annual Telecommunications and Media Forum in Washington, which was held on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.
Chen met with O’Reilly on Thursday last week, Chi said.
The meeting was arranged because Taiwan is seeking to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and needs to consult with the FCC on communication issues, Chi said, adding that O’Reilly is one of the FCC’s two Republican Party commissioners.
Under US President Barack Obama’s administration, the FCC has three commissioners from the Democratic Party, including FCC Chairperson Tom Wheeler, Chi said.
Although Wheeler’s term does not end until 2018, Chi said that he is to resign after Trump takes office in January next year because with a Republican as US president the FCC will have three commissioners who are Republican and two who are Democrats.
O’Reilly’s term on the FCC runs until 2019, he said.
According to the NCC, the meeting between Chen and O’Reilly was also attended by officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office and FCC legal experts.
Chen is reported to have told O’Reilly that the NCC hopes to regularly communicate with FCC through mutual visits of commissioners and digital forums between Taiwan and the US, adding that the NCC hoped to learn from the FCC about how it drafts its communication policies and regulations.
O’Reilly said that details of further exchanges between the two commissions would be better determined next month when Trump takes office.
The Telecommunications and Media Forum examined some important issues, including the challenges brought by the development of the Internet of Things and 5G service, the protection of personal data, the open Internet, the impact on the US and international communications policies caused by Brexit and the results of the US presidential election, the NCC said.
Trump has promised to withdraw the US from the TPP on his first day in office.
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