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.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS