Telecom council set to welcome China

By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Pacific Telecommunications Council has reached an agreement with China that could bring the world's most populous nation into the Honolulu-based council.

By agreeing to officially refer to Taiwan as "Chinese Taipei" or "Taiwan, China," the PTC cleared the way for Chinese companies to become council members, for council events to be held in China, and for high-level Chinese officials to speak at council functions.

The council is a nongovernmental telecom organization with 740 members from around the Pacific Rim.

A majority of its members are American companies. Adding China means the organization could attract widespread interest — especially from telecom companies interested in investing in China, executive director Hoyt Zia said.

"The exact impact remains to be seen, but the potential is tremendous," Zia said. "China is moving into telecommunications in a very big way, and is looking for partners to help it develop. This should help us grow our organization."

The council has long discussed increasing ties with China, but only agreed to the change in its Taiwan protocol this month.

Many international organizations have jumped through this diplomatic hoop to entice China to join.

Taiwan is now commonly referred to as Chinese Taipei in organizations where both China and Taiwan participate.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory, although the island has governed itself since Chiang Kai-shek fled there with his Nationalist army after the post-World War II civil war.

Pacific Telecommunications Council has held its annual conference in Hawai'i for decades, usually drawing hundreds of participants to discuss policy issues, learn about new products and do deals.