The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday said that it would ask responsible authorities to investigate whether it is legal for Chinese to recruit Taiwanese to run social media Web sites.
With just more than nine months until next year’s presidential election, Beijing is allegedly recruiting Taiwanese cyberwarfare operatives with an ad saying that Internet celebrities are preferred.
An employment ad posted by “takaobrainhealing” on a Facebook page dedicated to political satire last month said that it is looking for people “skilled in spreading information and reposting.”
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
To qualify, it said an applicant must have two or three Facebook accounts, or at least two Line, Wechat or Yahoo accounts, or is willing to apply for any required number of accounts on these platforms.
Responsibilities would include: “Meeting requirements to spread content mill articles, posting news-related content and shaping public opinion, and leaving comments to defend the pan-blue political camp or China,” as well as “attacking, isolating or drowning out any article or comment that is not in line with our position.”
The ad promises a monthly wage of NT$35,000.
Another ad on Facebook is looking for Internet celebrities who politically lean toward “cross-strait rapport/unification.”
The post said that the job is being offered through a “special project overseen by the People’s Government of Sichuan Province,” adding that applicants do not need to have a large following, but have to be “pretty.”
They would be trained by a talent firm in China, which promises exposure on major media outlets with at least 2 million viewers per day, it said, adding that trainees would be paid between 5,000 and 10,000 yuan (US$744 and US$1,489) per month, depending on their potential.
Another ad looking for “Facebook page administrators for political parties” has also surfaced on online job banks that promises a successful applicant between NT$20,000 and NT$50,000 per month and flexible working hours, but requires support for “peaceful unification between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
Meanwhile, the administrators of several Facebook pages, including “impolite.tw” and “jamesiscurly2,” said that they have received direct messages asking whether their pages could be acquired.
Judging by their dialects, the interested parties are likely Chinese, they said.
The council said that it would work with relevant agencies to monitor the ads and page requests, adding that the governing agency would appropriately punish Chinese who run illegal ads.
It urged people working in China or thinking about working in China to be aware of the legal and cultural differences, and to be mindful of the trouble their political beliefs could cause them.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
CLOSER TO CHINA: The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000km, compared with the original model’s range of 200km, and can reach mainland China Japan is preparing to deploy its first batch of domestically developed long-range missiles, with their launchers arriving at an army camp yesterday, as the country accelerates its offensive capability in response to rising challenges in the region. The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles are to be deployed at Camp Kengun in Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto by the end of this month, completing the process of deployment, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said without giving details. Army vehicles carrying the launchers and other equipment arrived past midnight in a highly secretive mission criticized by residents. Dozens of people stood outside of the
RSS