The Executive Yuan yesterday announced the 27 members of its newly launched youth advisory group, which is set to hold its first meeting later this month.
Executive Yuan spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said that the 27 — 18 men and nine women — with an average age of 27 have been selected from among 248 people who registered online to join the group.
“The group is to convene its first meeting later this month, after which it will have one meeting every three months,” Sun said, adding that there would be subgroup meetings in the intervals.
He said that Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) expects the group to “serve as a bridge of communication between the government and [Taiwan’s] youth.”
The group is expected to provide advice to help government agencies get a better grasp of what the young is thinking.
Among the members is Sega Cheng (程世嘉), chairman and CEO of LIVEhouse.in, an online streaming service.
Cheng said that as someone in charge of an Internet startup, he is concerned that the nation’s Internet sector has been overtaken by South Korea’s and Singapore’s. He also expressed hope for better communication between the government and young people.
Liu Yu-cheng (劉育承), another member who was the director of a cram school before moving home five years ago to take over his father’s farming business, said the free economic pilot zone project that the government is pushing would have a great impact on the agricultural industry.
“I wish to speak up on behalf of farmers on agricultural issues,” Liu said.
Tsai Chang-hung (蔡章弘), a teacher on Green Island (綠島), said he hopes to show the government the lack of educational resources in remote areas and narrow the urban-rural divide.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) called for the establishment of the advisory group in a speech on May 20 to mark his sixth anniversary in office.
Ma said that student-led protests against the cross-strait service trade agreement and the fate of the nearly completed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City, drew great attention from young people, which he said shows that the younger generation is becoming more aware of the issues affecting the nation.
Allowing young people access to the government system and letting them take part in policymaking will help lessen the gap between the public and the administration, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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