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.
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