A government Web site that aims to encourage the public to contribute ideas on how to boost the nation’s economy has drawn praise and criticism alike from the public and lawmakers.
The Central Personnel Administration (CPA) launched the Web site to solicit creative economic policy proposals on Sept. 12.
The Web site had attracted at least 100 proposals as of Wednesday and many of them were so “creative” that the CPA decided to remove them, a report in the Apple Daily said yesterday.
FLOATING SALARIES
Ideas posted on the Web site reportedly suggested that Cabinet ministers should work as volunteers or that there should be a floating salary pricing system for ministers, much like the nation’s floating oil pricing system. Some others called for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to share its party assets with the public as a way to boost the nation’s economy.
As of yesterday, none of the messages on the CPA Web site could be viewed.
CPA Minister Cheng Ching-hsiu (陳清秀) explained yesterday that the site had originally been intended to target civil servants and that the CPA’s opening of the site to the public was in line with a pledge made by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) to “listen to the voices of the people.”
Chen stressed that the government was looking at numerous ways of boosting the economy, saying “the more ideas, the better.”
PLAYING GAMES
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) accused the CPA of acting as if it were playing games.
The launch of the Web site, he said, showed that Ma and Liu had run out of ideas on how to revive the economy.
KMT Legislator Nancy Chao (趙麗雲) also frowned upon the Web site, saying that “the Cabinet should propose its own economic policies rather than rely on creative ideas from the public.”
KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), however, argued that many large companies also use the Internet to seek ideas when formulating business strategies.
Describing the Internet as “far-reaching,” Ting said the Web site could attract a lot of ideas and allow the public to brainstorm together.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG AND STAFF WRITER
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported