The Presidential Office will launch a new multimillion-dollar Web site today in what is being called the most comprehensive overhaul since the office's Web site was launched 14 years ago.
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) told a press conference that the new Web site cost between NT$6 million (US$187,000) and NT$7 million to redesign.
Asked why it cost so much, Lo did not answer, saying lawmakers posed the same question when the office requested the budget last year.
He said the entire process had followed the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法).
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) in August last year called the price tag “outrageous” and urged the Presidential Office to refrain from wasting taxpayers' money.
James Buu, deputy director of the Presidential Office's Public Affairs Department, said expenses were higher than in previous years because they had to spend an extra NT$2 million on hardware after all government agencies were required to move their computer room from Academia Sinica to the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission.
Buu said it was a one-time fee and that starting next year, the annual maintenance fee would be between NT$3 million and NT$4 million.
The presidential Web site was set up on Feb. 1, 1996, under then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). It received a makeover in 2000, when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came into office.
The new Web site will be available to the public after 8am today. It will have Mandarin and English versions. A version for children and another for cellphone users will also be available.
While the old Web site offered a simplified Chinese version, Lo Chih-chiang said this would no longer be the case, adding that this should not be a problem because conversion from traditional Chinese characters to simplified Chinese is easy.
Asked why President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was referred to by his full name in his biographical entry while Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) was only referred to as “Mr Siew,” the spokesman said it was “common practice” to address a person using different titles at different times.
What mattered was that they were introduced as president and vice president in their entries, he said.
On the president's mailbox, the spokesman said the design was a post card and that the public could write as much as they wanted.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) came under fire in April for setting a 1,500-word limit for his online mailbox.
The new Web site will also have more video footage and security measures will be strengthened, Lo Chih-chiang said.
He encouraged the public to write to the Presidential Office if they had any questions about the new Web site.
He added that those whose recommendations were used would receive a gift.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS