Advertisement
Advertisement
Apps
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
iQiyi’s agent in Taiwan has announced that it will stop providing customer service to its local users starting October 15. Photo: Reuters

iQiyi’s Taiwan agent to cease serving local users from October 15 after ban on Chinese streaming platforms

  • An order issued on September 3 prohibits Taiwanese individuals and organisations from working with mainland Chinese video streaming companies
  • OTT Entertainment, iQiyi’s Taiwanese partner, says it will stop providing customer service to the Chinese streaming site’s local users from October 15
Apps
iQiyi’s agent in Taiwan has announced that it will stop providing customer service to its local users starting October 15, after a recent ban on working with mainland Chinese video streaming platforms took effect.
The Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs issued a formal order on September 3 prohibiting Taiwanese individuals and organisations from working with mainland Chinese video streaming companies such as iQiyi and Tencent Holdings, preventing such companies from “operating illegally” in Taiwan through local agents and distributors.

OTT Entertainment, which had a partnership with iQiyi to promote and sell the latter’s services in Taiwan, said in a Facebook post on Monday that it stopped providing member management and brand services to iQiyi the day the ban took effect. At the additional request of Taiwan’s National Communications Commission, the agency will also stop providing customer service to iQiyi users on the island starting October 15, it said in the post.

However, OTT Entertainment added that iQiyi’s platform continues to be accessible on the island and VIP members’ privileges will not be affected. “Even if the agency business must be terminated due to changes in government regulations, iQiyi’s is still available in 60 countries worldwide, and all iQiyi users including those in the Taiwan region can still continue to access [the platform],” it said in the statement.

When contacted for comment, iQiyi referred the Post to OTT Entertainment’s Facebook post.

Taiwan plans to ban mainland Chinese streaming sites including iQiyi

The September 3 order closes a loophole that allowed Chinese streaming platforms to operate on the island by forming alliances with local broadcasters and distributors to promote and sell their video streaming services.

The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area stipulates that Chinese companies can only invest in certain categories of goods and services. Online streaming is not on the list of permitted services.

Taiwan’s latest restrictions come at a time when Chinese technology companies are facing hurdles worldwide, including in the US and India.

03:07

Stop offering ‘untrusted’ Chinese apps like TikTok and WeChat, Washington urges US tech companies

Stop offering ‘untrusted’ Chinese apps like TikTok and WeChat, Washington urges US tech companies
TikTok-owner ByteDance is currently in talks with Oracle and Walmart to sell part of its US operations after President Donald Trump threatened to shut down the short video app completely, citing national security and data privacy concerns. The fate of Tencent’s ubiquitous app WeChat in the US also remains uncertain – a federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s order to ban the messaging app, but the Commerce Department has said it will challenge the court’s decision.

Meanwhile, India has banned almost two hundred Chinese apps, including popular games such as Tencent’s PUBG Mobile, amid border tensions with China.

Additional reporting by Iris Deng

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: iQiyi agent in Taiwan pulls plug on services
Post