The Mainland Affairs Council plans to spend more money on promotion and publicity efforts next year, as shown by an an increase of NT$15 million (US$501,000) for propaganda expenditure in the council’s budget plan submitted to the legislature, including NT$4 million for its Facebook page and other social media projects.
Under the draft budget statements delivered yesterday for a review after the legislature starts its new session on Sept. 12, the government plans to spend NT$981.754 million on cross-strait affairs through the council next year, NT$17.14 million more than this year.
The council has budgeted NT$63 million on promoting cross-strait policy, an increase of NT$15 million over this year, meaning about 88 percent of its extra request would be used for this purpose.
Of that NT$63 million, NT$8 million is allocated for administering the council’s Facebook page and to increase its publicity on other social networking Web sites, up from NT$4 million this year.
In comparison, the Executive Yuan has budgeted just NT$370,000 for its Web-based promotional efforts.
It is not surprising that the council wants more money, given the increasing anxiety among the younger generations about the direction of cross-strait relations under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
Since the Ma government has been incompetent at addressing the concerns about its handling of cross-strait relations, it can only employ promotional tactics to give the public a favorable interpretation of its policies, Chen said.
The council said the prevalence of Internet use and the emergence of social media mean a bigger budget is needed so it can expand the scope of communication with the public and stakeholders.
However, the council’s Facebook page includes postings unrelated to cross-strait issues.
The most recent examples were the posts mourning US comedian and actor Robin Williams, support for the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dieting tips and Dengue fever prevention tips, Chen said.
The lawmaker questioned how effectively the council is using digital media to communicate on cross-strait issues when it is posting messages that had nothing to do with its policies.
The council said that posting messages about issues the public is concerned about is a way to interact with Internet users.
“Look at what the Mainland Affairs Council had posted. It should feel guilty about the ridiculous posts. The plan to spend NT$8 million is a waste of taxpayers’ money,” Chen said.
The council also plans to spend NT$17.6 million to run ads on electronic media outlets next year, the budget proposal showed.
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