American FCC official in Taiwan to discuss telecoms issues, cybersecurity

Brendan Carr is expected to meet Taiwanese officials during the three-day trip
He told Axios he is looking forward to ‘deepening collaboration’ with the island

Taiwan

Lawrence Chungin Taipei

Published: 8:30pm, 2 Nov 2022

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A commissioner with the US Federal Communications Commission arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday on an unannounced trip, the latest in a stream of visits by senior American politicians that is certain to rile Beijing.

Brendan Carr is expected to “meet with Taiwan interlocutors to discuss telecommunications, cybersecurity and other significant issues of mutual interest” during the three-day visit, the American Institute in Taiwan said.

The institute – which represents the US in the absence of formal ties with Taiwan – did not say whether Carr would meet senior Taiwanese officials such as President Tsai Ing-wen, as other American politicians have done when they visited the island this year.

02:27

Latest US delegation to visit Taiwan pushes for closer economic ties with self-ruled island

Carr told US-based news website Axios that he would meet officials from Taiwan’s National Communications Commission, the foreign ministry and other agencies.

“Given my position at the FCC, I look forward in particular to deepening the collaboration with Taiwan and sharing views on network resiliency, cyber and telecom issues that are vital to our shared security interests,” Carr told Axios.

He said he hoped to send a strong message through his visit that a free and democratic Taiwan was vital to America’s own prosperity. He added that Taiwan’s chip industry was also important to American interests and economic growth.

Carr – who recently called for a ban on the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok in the US – was also expected to discuss with Taiwanese officials alleged cyber and other communications threats from Beijing, according to local media reports.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Carr’s trip. The island’s NCC also declined to comment, saying it was not involved in arranging the visit.

A long-time critic of the alleged security risks posed by mainland Chinese telecommunications firms, including Huawei Technologies, Carr is the first sitting FCC commissioner to visit the self-ruled island in an official capacity.

Beijing is expected to protest against the visit, as it has done when senior US officials have previously travelled to Taiwan.

At least 10 groups of US lawmakers have visited the island this year. The most high-profile was US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip in early August, a trip that infuriated Beijing. It called the visit a serious violation of its sovereignty and a breach of Washington’s one-China policy, and responded with a series of unprecedented military drills around the island – including firing ballistic missiles over Taiwan – to protest against the US and ramp up pressure on Taipei.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has never ruled out the use of force to take control of it. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. Washington, however, opposes any attempt to take the island by force.