China Mobile Chairman Wang Jianzhou said this week he was “optimistic” that the operator’s bid to buy a minority stake in Taiwanese mobile firm Far EasTone would go ahead, despite the Taiwanese government’s continued reluctance to lift its ban on Chinese investment in its telecom sector. “It’s a good opportunity for both companies, so why wouldn’t I be optimistic?” Wang told reporters this week, reports Dow Jones Newswires. He reiterated that China Mobile was not planning to seek a controlling stake in the Taiwanese company. However, Wall Street Journal reported separate comments from Lai Shih-yuan, chairwoman of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council and a key policy-maker on Taiwan’s relations with China, that Taiwan was not prepared to make any exceptions and lift its ban. “This [deal] won’t force the government to open the sector… this is not the right thing to do.” She added that Chinese companies were also barred from investing in Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, which is considered the backbone of the local economy.

China Mobile announced late last month that it had struck a deal to buy a 12 percent stake in Far EasTone for TWD17,773.6 million (US$527 million). In a statement at the time, China Mobile said it would subscribe to 444,341,020 shares in Far EasTone, representing about TWD40.00 per share. The two operators said at the time they have also entered into a strategic alliance covering “joint purchases, roaming, data and value-added businesses and network and technology advancement” in a bid to serve increasing mobile communications between China and Taiwan. If the deal does eventually go through it would be only the second significant overseas mobile investment made by China Mobile, following its acquisition of Pakistan’s Paktel (now ‘Zong’) in 2007.