iQIYI Photo: cnsphoto

The Taiwan agent for the mainland's streaming platform iQIYI will cease providing customer service for the company starting from October 15. The move comes after the island's economic authorities recently launched a new rule aimed at preventing technology companies from the Chinese mainland carrying out so-called illegal operations in Taiwan without an official license - a groundless move considered by many to be an awkward imitation of the US' recent behavior of disrupting private companies by abusing governmental power.

Against the backdrop of the new rule by the Taiwan economic authorities on September 3, OTT Entertainment, the Taiwan agent of iQIYI, will terminate the customer service provided by OTT Entertainment on October 15 at the request of the "National Communications Commission," the company said in its official statement on Monday, noting that after that, iQIYI members should contact iQIYI online customer service for ordering or customer service.

The agent had already ceased its iQIYI Taiwan member distribution business and abandoned its iQIYI brand agency service on the same day that the island's economic authorities launched the new rule forbidding local companies to act as an agent for or distribute internet audiovisual services to people or organizations on the mainland from September 3.

OTT media services stream media directly to viewers via the internet, meaning it bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, and therefore any local controls too.

The Chinese streaming platform iQIYI applied in 2016 to invest in the Taiwan region and set up a subsidiary, but its OTT-TV business belongs to a sector closed to mainland individuals and companies for investment. iQIYI's application was therefore not approved. iQIYI has since gained huge popularity in the region for its quality content, especially among young people.

"We appreciated users and members for supporting iQIYI in the past four years, even though the corresponding service must be terminated by government decree related to agency business," the company said.

Despite the customer service with iQIYI coming to an abrupt halt, the Taiwanese company noted that the iQIYI app can still be run in 60 countries and regions worldwide. Those users, including those in Taiwan, can continue to enjoy iQIYI.

"Taiwan people enjoy mainland video programs, especially TV dramas, but cannot watch them through formal channels - only via OTT-TV," Xiang Ligang, an industry analyst, told the Global Times, noting that there are many similar Taiwanese businesses, all of whom entered the market through agents.

After the customer service ends in mid-October, for iQIYI members to get customer service, they will need to contact iQIYI online customer service directly, OTT Entertainment said.