Taiwan To Block Tencent and Baidu Streaming Sites, Citing National Security and Propaganda Concerns

Taiwan is blocking video streaming services of Chinese tech giants Baidu and Tencent Holdings, citing national security and propaganda concerns ahead of a presidential election next year. 'Chiu Chui-Cheng, deputy minister of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, [said] that Taiwan is likely to ban Baidu's popular iQiyi platform, and block Tencent's plan to bring its streaming service to the island later this year,' Nikkei Asian Review reports. From the report: 'We are concerned that streaming media services that have close ties with Beijing could have cultural and political influences in Taiwan... and even affect Taiwan's elections,' Chiu said. 'If Tencent's streaming video service is trying to enter the Taiwanese market, it's very likely that it's a part of Beijing's propaganda campaign,' he said. 'What if the company inserts some content that Beijing hopes to advertise? What if it implements messages linked to the Communist Party or its army? We should treat this seriously and carefully at a national security level.'

The official said that Beijing has stepped up its 'cultural infiltration' into Taiwan after Chinese President Xi Jinping used a speech in January to push for an accelerated reunification process. Taiwan does not allow any Chinese Netflix-like streaming services to operate locally, but search engine giant Baidu has been operating in Taiwan through an agent, OTT Entertainment, after Taipei blocked the platform in November 2016. The company's data shows iQiyi's Taiwan site -- one of the most popular video streaming platforms on the island, has 2 million active daily users.

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