Former premier Simon Chang (張善政) yesterday unveiled the “digital nation” referendum he is sponsoring and delivered 2,500 signatures to the Central Election Commission.
The proposed referendum hopes to establish an innovative digital committee or bureau, or similar agency, as part of the Executive Yuan to further develop the nation’s digital capabilities, said Chang, who last month announced his intention to run in next year’s presidential election as an independent candidate.
The government would, by law, have to establish laws and implement the agency should the referendum pass, Chang said, adding that should he win the presidential election, he would establish such an agency as his first executive order.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The next challenge is to obtain the 300,000 signatures to make the referendum a reality, Chang said, adding that the primary problem — and also the most time and resource-consuming — would be how to collect the signatures.
Chang’s solution is to work with a taxi fleet and ride-hailing app — possibly Taiwan Taxi and Uber — to collect and organize the signatures.
The referendum’s primary purpose is to make Taiwan a digitally and technologically robust nation, Chang said.
He called the referendum the “Digital May Fourth Movement.”
The May Fourth Movement was a student-led movement calling for democratization, further scientific studies and discontent about the “Shandong Issue” under the nascent Republic of China government in 1919.
The “Shandong Issue” referred to the perceived inability of the government to protect China’s national interests such as the Treaty of Versailles handing Japan territories in Shandong, which had been surrendered by Germany after the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914.
Chinese academic and philosopher Hu Shih (胡適) had wished for wide-spread education in China a century ago, Chang said, adding that he hoped his “movement” would spur Taiwanese to have a deeper understanding of technology.
Chang said that he would be forming a nonpartisan Digital Legislators’ Association that would accept any candidate running for a legislative seat who recognizes that the government must implement structural changes to keep up with the digital age.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
RSS