The Green Party Taiwan (GPT) yesterday accused the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau of “buying off” bloggers to publish blog entries on the petrochemical industry and questioned if it was part of a campaign to raise public support for a highly controversial plan to build a massive petrochemical plant.
“This government is completely malfunctioning. It not only buys commercial media outlets, now it’s buying independent bloggers,” GPT convener Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said.
Pan told the Taipei Times by telephone that the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) had invited 20 bloggers on a trip to visit a petrochemical plant in Kaohsiung and an electronic appliance plant nearby.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“The trip was totally free for participants. They received free meals and a NT$5,000 cash award,” Pan said.
“The NT$5,000 for each participating blogger alone costs NT$100,000 of taxpayers’ money and this doesn’t include the cost of hiring a marketing firm to arrange the trip and other costs of the trip,” Pan said.
“Both President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) have talked about ending government placement marketing, but what they are doing is far from what they said,” Pan added.
A Web page announcing the event with details and links to related blog posts confirmed Pan’s comments.
The event Web page said participating bloggers were required to publish at least one blog post of 1,500 words or more and five pictures describing the trip -before Friday to qualify.
In their blog post, bloggers were asked to “write down your expectations of the Kuokuang petrochemical plant” as well as “comments and feelings” about the trip.
Kuokuang Petrochemical Co wants to construct a massive petrochemical plant along the coast in Changhua County.
The plan has met with strong opposition from environmental groups as well as local residents who worry about the pollution and the impact such a project could have on the ecologically sensitive Changhua coast.
GPT Secretary-General Chang Hung-lin (張宏林) said studies by academics and previous experience had proven that the highly polluting petrochemical industry is not suitable for Taiwan.
“Despite this knowledge, the government still insists on -defending the Kuokuang project without any regard for the health of the public,” Chang said.
“Now the government is even trying to get its hands on bloggers to speak for the petrochemical industry,” Chang added.
“The government should apologize to the public,” Chang said.
At press time, IDB Director--General Woody Duh (杜紫軍) had not returned requests for comment by the Taipei Times.
Separately, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said he did not see any problems with the practice of encouraging bloggers to write on a subject through subsidies, as long as the blogs were not used as embedded marketing.
“This is not unlike the tours [of military facilities] organized by the Ministry of National Defense for reporters covering national defense,” Wu said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄), which earlier this week became the first Taiwanese novel to win the International Booker Prize, is to be adapted into a television series through a Taiwan-Japan coproduction, producer Chang Chen-yu (張辰漁) said yesterday. Chang, a producer at World Softest Production Film Co, wrote on Facebook that the company had been searching for projects with international appeal that retain a strong Taiwanese identity after colleagues and Japanese partners strongly recommended the novel. After reading the book, Chang said he immediately decided to pursue the screen rights. “A great story has the power to transcend time and borders, and connect countless people,”
RSS