Taiwanese should prepare for the likelihood of China resorting to Facebook to launch “united-front” propaganda campaigns, as a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Facebook chief executve Mark Zuckerberg in Seattle last week could lead to the unblocking of the Web site in China, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member said yesterday.
“Xi spent nearly half of his state visit to the US in Seattle, where he met almost every American business magnate in the high-tech and Internet industries, including Zuckerberg,” DPP Department of International Affairs director James Huang (黃志芳) said during an interview with Hit FM radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻).
Huang said from his understanding, the meeting suggested that Facebook would most likely be allowed to re-enter China in the near future, following a 2009 ban due to its alleged role in a series of riots in Xinjiang.
“So people should not be too surprised when China starts using Facebook as its platform for ‘united-front’ campaigns targeting Taiwanese,” Huang said, urging the government to draw up a set of strategies to deal with social media Web sites being used in the cross-strait arena.
Following Xi’s meetings with US President Barack Obama last week, Huang said there were no surprises as both leaders kept to their usual stances on cross-strait issues.
However, the economic issues discussed were more worthy of attention, Huang said.
“Xi’s meetings with the business tycoons sent out a message to the world that when it comes to the Internet and information technology, China remains the largest market and the US is still leading the sheep, and the maker of the rules and standards,” he said.
Huang said that since information and communications technology is a vital source of Taiwan’s economic development, the nation must find a niche in the global market amid growing US-China cooperation in the area.
Asked whether Xi had attempted during his US visit to persuade Obama to put pressure on DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to accept the so-called “1992 consensus,” Huang said the party had not received such information.
“We do not think the US will take a stance on the issue of the ‘1992 consensus,’ given that many influential US officials in charge of policymaking have pledged publicly not to interfere with the Taiwanese elections or take a particular stance on the basis of cross-strait interactions,” Huang said.
Huang said the Obama-Xi talks were unlikely to have any negative impact on Tsai’s campaign and that the party is confident that the US would not change its stance even if Tsai is elected.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted to making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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