The president of Google's Chinese operations Lee Kai-fu (
Lee, who has been to the country's top universities to recruit engineers for the company's local research and development center which opened at the end of last month, said that young Taiwanese people do not work as hard as Chinese people, and lack the passion for pursuing ideals that young Americans have.
"Young people in Taiwan have global vision, but I worry about their definition of success and values. I think more students accept social values, and only care about making money," he said yesterday during the "World citizen -- be the best of yourself" forum held at National Taiwan Normal University.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The two also said integrity and honesty were the two key values both in the technology industry and in politics.
Asked about how to maintain these two values in China, Lee said that Google put significant effort into educating its employees.
"We spend a great deal of time helping our employees understand what's important, and making sure that they know the company's values," he said.
Ma, who is also the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) chairman, said political figures needed to promote such values, and used the occasion to defend himself.
"People compare me to a non-stick pan. I am when it comes to corruption and sex, but I stick to integrity and chastity," he said.
The two also discussed in private the recent controversy over Google's decision to bow to Web censorship by China's government.
Ma said Beijing's "soft control" was not good for China.
"Google will follow China's regulations, but on the other hand, it will provide another version which is not censored. But it [that version] may be logged off sometimes," Ma said, recounting his conversation with Lee after the forum.
Ma said it was understandable that the company needed to comply with the Chinese government's regulations in order to do business there, but Beijing's censorship would only result in a negative image.
In response to Google's recruitment of Taiwanese, Ma called on the government to be more open to help boost the country's competitiveness.
"Since we joined the WTO, we should be more open. This way, high-tech companies who set up R&D centers in Taiwan can encounter no limitations when attracting talent, including new talent from China," he said.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS