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.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
RSS