A sweeping boycott by opposition lawmakers of National Communications Commission (NCC) nominees could lead to dysfunction at the regulator and delay the launch of the iPhone 16 in Taiwan later this year, an agency official said.
The Executive Yuan on Tuesday last week announced four nominees for the seven-member commission to replace outgoing commissioners whose terms are to end on July 31.
NCC Deputy Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗), whose term expires in July, was nominated to be the agency’s new chairman, while National Taiwan Normal University Graduate Institute of Mass Communication professor Chen Ping-hung (陳炳宏) was nominated as the new vice chairman.
Photo: CNA
Shih Hsin University communications management assistant professor Lo Huei-wen (羅慧雯) and NCC Department of Platform and Business Director Chan I-Lien (詹懿廉) were nominated as commissioners.
Three of the outgoing NCC members are NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥), and NCC commissioners Lin Li-yun (林麗雲) and Wang Wei-ching (王維菁).
Whether the regulator can function after July is in question after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a bill to advance the government’s nominations of four new members of the NCC.
Although the National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that commissioners can remain in their posts until the day before new commissioners take office, Chen Yaw-shyang, Lin and Wang have all indicated that they would return to their teaching positions at universities when they finish their terms.
The KMT caucus has said it would propose an amendment to the act that would not extend the four outgoing commissioners’ terms.
“We would respect the lawmakers as it is their authority to propose an amendment to the National Communications Commission Organization Act,” Wong said. “However, the commissioners would not be able to make any decision if the number of commissioners attending the weekly conference fails to meet the legal threshold.”
At least four of the seven commissioners must be present at the weekly meeting for the agency to issue rulings, the act says.
The commission would be left with only three members if none of the outgoing commissioners wants to stay after their terms end, or if their terms cannot be extended beyond July.
The launch of new telecom products could be affected as well, Wong said.
“Devices equipped with radio frequency functions, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, must have certificates of conformity from the NCC before they can be sold in Taiwan. To import an iPhone 16, which has yet to secure such a certificate, the manufacturer must first apply for a permit to import, which must be confirmed and approved at the commissioners’ meeting,” he said.
Meanwhile, the commissioners need to authorize their staff to issue the certificates if the devices meet a minimum set of regulatory, technical and safety requirements, the NCC said, adding that the new commissioners would have to renew such authorization after taking office.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
RSS