Any equipment made by Huawei Technologies Co (華為) or ZTE Corp (中興) is to be quickly eliminated after a review of past government procurement cases, Minister Without Portfolio Wu Tze-cheng (吳澤成), who chairs the Public Construction Commission, said yesterday.
Wu made the statement at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was reviewing the commission’s budget for fiscal 2019.
Taiwan in 2013 banned the use of core telecoms equipment manufactured by Chinese companies, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said on Saturday, after US magazine The National Interest reported on the risks that such equipment could pose to Taiwan’s security.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The magazine cited Kitsch Liao (廖彥棻), a Taiwan-based cybersecurity specialist, as saying that Huawei has built backdoors into its hardware that serve as a dual threat to communications, enabling both espionage and sabotage.
Democratic Progressive Party legislators Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清) and Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) asked Wu how the government regulates telecoms’ use of Huawei products.
Cheng said that in 2012 some telecoms were found to be using core network technology built by Huawei.
The National Security Bureau in 2013 said that the Investigation Bureau and Presidential Office had used the company’s wireless network adapters.
The commission should quickly inform telecoms that are involved in government procurement that they are banned from using core equipment made by Huawei and ZTE, Cheng said, adding that telecoms should work with the NCC to dispose of such equipment that is still in use.
The US National Defense Authorization Act bans US government agencies and contractors from using products from Huawei and ZTE, while Australia, India and the UK have similar rules, Cheng said.
Wu said that the Public Construction Commission would do as Cheng asked and would circulate a reminder regarding the regulations.
The Government Procurement Act (政府採購法) stipulates that government agencies can set regulations governing the participation of foreign suppliers in government procurement cases, Wu said.
Separately, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) told a news conference that the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is not using any telecom equipment that is the subject of national security concerns.
The administration has been paying close attention to issues related to information security as have other democratic nations around the world, Huang said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS