The National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday that the specifications of mobile satellite communications cars provided by China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) would have to obtain certification from the commission before they can be used in Taiwan.
China Mobile Ltd chairman Wang Jianzhou (王建宙) said the company was prepared to lend 10 mobile satellite communication cars to telecom carriers in Taiwan to facilitate communication in areas devastated by Typhoon Morakot. The cars are stored at Xiamen Port and may only enter Taiwan after obtaining government approval.
Liang Wen-hsing (梁溫馨), an NCC specialist, said Far EasTone (遠傳電信) was also applying to have three such cars imported. Neither Chunghwa Telecom (中華電) nor Taiwan Mobile has submitted applications to import the cars.
“By law, the commission must certify specifications of controlled telecommunications radio frequency devices imported from abroad,” Liang said, adding that using China-made mobile satellite communications cars should not raise any national security concerns.
NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-tsang (陳正倉) said that Far EasTone must also obtain a permit from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Foreign Trade before the cars can be imported.
“The commission will not issue any comment on the donor [of the cars], nor will it comment on the recipient,” Chen said. “We are mainly responsible for accelerating the administrative process so that the equipment can reach disaster areas quickly.”
Meanwhile, Wang met Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday. Wu thanked Wang for making donations to Taiwan in the wake of Morakot.
Wu was the only political figure Wang has met so far in his 10-day visit. Since arriving in Taiwan on Friday, Wang has visited HTC Corp (宏達電) and the Hsinchu Science Park.
Wang donated 10 million yuan (US$1.46 million) for rescue and relief work in Taiwan. He said he was impressed by Taiwan’s rescue and relief efforts, which reminded him and many Chinese of the situation in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake last year and how Taiwanese offered assistance in the rescue and relief work.
“I hope our cooperation with local businesses in Taiwan will create a win-win situation for both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Wu expressed gratitude for Wang and China’s assistance and said the sincerity from China would help improve the cross-strait relations.
“Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and I agree that the two sides cannot stop natural disasters, but we can use our wisdom and capabilities to stop war across the Taiwan Strait,” Wang said.
At a separate setting yesterday, MediaTek Inc (聯發科), Taiwan’s biggest handset chipmaker, said it intends to form a partnership with China Mobile to supply handset chips supporting China’s 3G and 4G technologies.
The announcement came after Wang met MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) and discussed China’s 3G, or time-division synchronous code division multiple acces and 4G, or TD-LTE, technologies.
In related news, the Taiwan Aboriginal Association for Multitribal Cultural Exchange said in a statement yesterday it had decided to “distribute funds for flooding victims on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party’s Taiwan Affairs Office” within a month. The fund referred to the 20 million yuan flood relief donation Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) accepted from China last week.
The association was established by political allies of Chin, who is half Atayal and was elected on an Aboriginal ballot.
Chin is believed to be the de facto leader of the group. It has also created a special commission, in which Chin, her political allies and office aide are members, to handle the distribution of the money.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) yesterday said he hoped the money would be distributed to typhoon victims in a fair and appropriate manner.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LISA WANG, LOA IOK-SIN AND KO SHU-LING
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The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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