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Cablegate: Blue Dominates Taiwan's Ncc Commissioner's

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TAIPEI 004883

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC AND EB/ITC
STATE PLEASE PASS AIT/W AND USTR
USTR FOR WINELAND, WINTERS AND STRATFORD
USDOC FOR 4430/ITA/MAC/AP/OPD/JKELLY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EINV ECON TW
SUBJECT: BLUE DOMINATES TAIWAN'S NCC COMMISSIONER'S

1. Summary: Taiwan's National Communications Commission
(NCC) Review Committee held public meetings to review all
18 NCC nominees from December 9-11 and then selected 13 NCC
Commissioners who will take office before the end of
December. Because the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and
People's First Party (PFP) dominate the review committee,
the eight nominees recommended by these parties were all
selected, leaving five seats for the ruling Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).
Driven by the recent flap over TV broadcast license
renewals and the government's implicit threat to close one
station that had been airing reports critical of the
government, most observers are focusing on the NCC's role
in media regulation and forgetting that the NCC will also
play a key role in the development of Taiwan's telecom
market as the pace of convergence between broadcast and
telecom services increases. End Summary

Make-up of Review Committee Determines Commissioners
============================================= =======

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2. The NCC Organic Law was passed by the Legislative Yuan
(LY) on October 25 and promulgated by President Chen Shui-
Bian on November 9. The new law requires the LY to
nominate 11 scholars and experts to form an NCC Review
Committee which will review and select candidates to become
NCC Commissioners. The composition of this review
committee is based on each party's representation
in the LY. The ruling Democratic People's Party (DPP)
nominated four members, the KMT also nominated four, the
PFP nominated two, and the Taiwan Solidarity Union
nominated one member. Because the opposition pan-blue
parties control the legislature, they also were able to
exercise a majority on the NCC review committee. A few
review committee members have some background in
broadcasting, including DPP nominated Lu Shih-Hsiang,
currently the CEO of the Foundation for the Advancement of
Media Excellence. Lu also was a journalist and chief
editor the United Daily News and Economic Daily News. The
KMT nominated Shao Yu-Ming for the review committee. Shao
is a former Government Information Office Governor and
Board Chairman of the KMT-owned Central Daily News. The
review committee, however, lacked members with experience
in telecommunications.

New Commissioners to Take Office Before End of Year
============================================= =====

3. Following the establishment of the Review Committee,
the Executive Yuan (EY) nominated three NCC Commissioner
candidates, with political parties in the LY nominating an
additional 15 candidates, based again on proportion of
seats in the LY. The DPP nominated six candidates, the KMT
also nominated six, with the PFP nominating two and the TSU
nominating one candidate. The Review Committee then had 20
days to select 13 NCC Commissioners. Once selected, the
names of the Commissioners must be transmitted to the EY
and then passed to the LY for final approval. The
statutory deadline for completing the process is December 28.

And the Winners Are...
============================================= ======

4. Three days of public hearings, in which the nominating
committee's questions focused primarily on how the
Government Information Office (GIO) had mishandled an inquiry
of satellite television operator TVBS, was followed on
December 11 by a vote to determine which nominees would
become NCC Commissioners. As expected, all eight pan-blue
nominated candidates were chosen, while only five of the
ten pan-green candidates were selected. Below is a list of
the new Commissioners, their backgrounds, and the
nominating party.

Executive Yuan Nominated
------------------------
Ms. Weng Hsiu-Chi
-- Major: Broadcasting
-- Current job: Professor, Department of Journalism,
National
Chengchi University
-- Edu: Ph.D., Broadcasting, Mainz University in
Germany
-- Age: 57

Mr. Chen Ming-Syan
-- Major: Telecommunications
-- Current Job: Dean of Graduate Institute of Communication
Engineering, National Taiwan University
-- Edu: Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, University of
Michigan,
Ann Arbor
-- Age: 46

DPP Nominated
-------------
Mr. Shi Shi-Hao
-- Major: Law
-- Current Job: Dean of Institute of Financial and Economic
Law,
National Dong Hwa University
-- Edu: Ph.D., Law, Hamburg University
-- Age: 40

Mr. Lu Chung-Jin
-- Major: Telecommunications
-- Current Job: Dean of Electronics Department, National
Tsinghua

SIPDIS
University
-- Edu: Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, University of
Southern
California
-- Age: 46

KMT Nominated
-------------
Ms. Liu Yu-Li
-- Major: Broadcasting/Journalism
-- Current Job: Professor, Department of Radio & TV,
National
Chengchi University
-- Edu: Ph.D., Telebroadcasting, Indiana University
-- Age:48

Mr. Lin Tung-Ttai
-- Major: Broadcasting/Journalism
-- Current Job: Professor, Graduate Institute of Mass
Communications, National Taiwan Normal University
-- Edu: Ph.D., Broadcasting, University of Ohio State
-- Age: 55

Mr. Lin Yi-Ping
-- Major: Telecommunications
-- Current Job: Professor of National Chiao Tung University
and
adjunct research fellow of Academia Sinica
-- Edu: Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Washington
-- Age: 44

Mr. Su Yeong-Chin
-- Major: Law
-- Current Job: Professor, Department of Law, National
Chengchi
University
-- Edu: Ph.D. in law, Munich University
-- Age: 54

Mr. Liu Kung-Chung
-- Major: Law
-- Current Job: research fellow, Academia Sinica
-- Edu: Ph.D. in law, Munich University
-- Age: 44

Mr. Wu Chung-Chi
-- Major: Industrial Economics/Consumer protection
-- Current Job: Professor, Economics Department, National
Taiwan
University
-- Edu: BA in Economics, National Taiwan University
-- Age: 59

PFP Nominated
-------------
Mr. Liu Zong-De
-- Major: Law
-- Current Job: Professor, Department of Law, National
Chengchi
University
-- Edu: Ph.D. in Law, Nogoya University, Japan
-- Age: 51

Mr. Lee Tzu-Yuan
-- Major: Broadcasting
-- Current Job: Chairman of Taipei Journalists Association,
former President of Taiwan TV Co.
-- Edu: MA degree in Diplomatic Studies, National Chengchi
University
-- Age: 62

TSU

SIPDIS
---
Hsieh Jin-Nan
-- Major: Telecommunications
-- Current Job: Technology Advisor of Fu Yan Media
Technology Co.
-- Edu: Ph.D, National Taiwan University of Science and
Technology

The new Commissioners have backgrounds in telecoms (4
commissioners), broadcasting (4), law (4), and consumer
protection (1). Interestingly, 3 of 4 broadcasting experts
were nominated by the pan-blue parties, while 3 of 4
telecoms experts came from the pro-green camp. Three of
the four legal scholars are pan-blue nominees.

Chosen on Party Lines, but Free from Pressure?
===========================================

5. Given the political (and physical) battles that
surrounded the passage of the NCC law by the LY, it was
widely expected that the 13 NCC Commissioners would be
selected strictly along party lines. The Chairman of the
Commission has yet to be selected but will almost certainly
be from the pan-blue parties. In spite of the heated
partisan origins of the NCC, KMT Legislator and former
Disney executive Joanna Lei insisted to AIT/T that
Commissioners would be free from political pressure since
once appointed their terms were fixed at three years
(although the law allows them to be reappointed once.)

6. DPP legislative whip Ke Chien-Min said that the DPP's
nominees were all top scholars and experts, and noted that
none are DPP members. He decried the blue-dominated NCC as
the result of blatant political engineering that threatened
freedom of the press in Taiwan. The KMT tried to downplay
its nominees' party membership and paint them as untainted
by ties to business. A KMT spokesman said that the party
had rejected 7 persons recommended by business
conglomerates, such as Eastern Multimedia Group.

7. Many candidates with strong backgrounds and good
reputations reportedly refused to become NCC Commissioner
nominees. These people are said to include Wu Fong-Shang,
the former Chairman of the Public TV Foundation; Wang Jian-
Hsuan, a former Finance Minister; Wang Chin-Fong, a Vice-
Presidential Candidate in 1996; and Lin Charng-Shen,
President of Uni-President Group. One reason for their
reported refusal could be the restrictions on NCC
Commissioners. For example, serving on the NCC requires
commissioners to refrain from any other employment. When
their terms of office are completed, commissioners are
prohibited from taking a job with a telecom/broadcast-
related company for 3 years.

Not Enough Telecom Experience?
============================================

8. One concern from local telecommunications industry
representatives has been that the parties and government
are focusing on broadcasting to the neglect of crucial
telecom regulatory issues. KMT Legislator Joanna Lei
confirmed that broadcasting regulation was first in the
minds of most LY members. The GIO decision to refuse to
reissue broadcast licenses for several cable channels,
followed by the threat to close TVBS in the wake of its
investigative reports alleging government corruption,
pushed the LY to pass the NCC bill as a way to stop the GIO
from interfering with press freedoms, she said. Chunghwa
Telecom Chairman Ho Chen Tan urged that the NCC should at
least have 4 members with a strong background in
telecommunications.

9. Comment: The NCC appears to be relatively evenly
divided between Commissioners with a strong background and
interest in broadcasting, telecom and law. However, with
the power in the committee wielded by the broadcast-heavy
pan-blue faction, the NCC may find it difficult to deal
with the concerns of the telecommunications industry. This
could potentially cause problems for Taiwan's leading
position in telecommunications technology as telecom and
broadcast companies move towards convergence of the two
industries. Taiwan needs an NCC that can provide a
positive regulatory environment to allow the continued
development of Taiwan's telecommunication industry - in
both services and equipment. An NCC that is overly focused
on broadcast standards or political battles over free-
speech or control of the media will not be credible as an
independent telecom regulator. End Comment.
PAAL

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