Mobile phone and tablet manufacturers have been asked to refer to the nation with its proper name in their built-in operating systems and applications, the National Communication Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
The caller ID on Huawei P30 and Nova 5T smartphones has been displaying the caller’s location as “Taiwan, China,” rather than “Taiwan,” since a security update to their operating systems, according to messages posted on a discussion forum on the Mobile 01 technology Web site.
In some Huawei Mate 20X smartphones, a list of warranty areas refers to Taiwan as a part of China, although the device’s caller ID still displays the caller’s location as “Taiwan,” the users said.
Photo: AP
The commission said it has asked the manufacturer to address the issue as soon as possible, as the designation does not faithfully reflect the reality and undermines the nation’s dignity.
The manufacturer has also been asked to be consistent in the name it uses to address the nation in its products, the commission added.
“We have started asking smartphone and tablet computer manufacturers to sign an affidavit when they apply for certification of their products, in which they need to pledge to accurately label the nation in the settings for the operating systems and built-in applications,” the commission said.
NCC acting spokesman Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said that certifications would be revoked if manufacturers were found to have changed the settings after obtaining certification and signing the affidavit, according to rules governing the inspections of telecommunication terminal equipment and controlled radio-frequency devices.
In other developments, Sanlih TV News was fined NT$200,000 for hindering the physical and mental health of children and youth after it on June 3 broadcast a news story about a boy who was forced by adults to express support for Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) at a campaign rally, and broke into tears while refusing to do so.
The channel further used a video clip from an online news outlet for the story, the commission said.
Some viewers have filed complaints about the story, the commission said, adding that it forwarded the case to be deliberated at an independent content review committee.
A majority of the committee members agreed that the channel harmed the child a second time by airing footage of him losing control of his emotions after being forced to perform an act against his wishes, the commission said.
Sanlih TV News should not exploit the plight of minors for news stories, it added.
Committee members also found the channel responsible for broadcasting the footage, even though it cited another news source, the commission said, adding that the channel should not use footage of children to illustrate the news stories it aims to tell.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to