The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday launched the party’s “digital chapter,” a mobile app that it says represents its willingness to “keep up with the times.”
The app’s functions allow KMT members to verify a membership card or pay fees, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) told a news conference in Taipei.
A map lets users find chapter locations and shops that offer discounts to party members, he said.
Photo: CNA
“More importantly, we can keep in touch with you,” Chiang said, adding that the party can use the app to update its members on party events and make announcements.
The app could also be used to conduct polls in real time to “understand the views of more party members and even non-party members,” he said.
People can also use the app to apply to join the party, he added.
“This is the digital age,” Chiang said. “If you cannot keep up with the digital age, prepare to be eliminated by it.”
Chiang said that he proposed the creation of a “digital chapter” in the run-up to the March 7 chairperson by-election, when he was campaigning for the position.
“We are the first political party to digitize,” he said.
The launch of the platform “represents that the KMT is willing to innovate, accept change and keep up with the times,” he said.
“In the past, everyone might have thought that the KMT was removed from the public and far away from its members,” said Chien Chin-yu (簡勤佑), who was appointed the party’s “chief digital marketing technology officer” in April.
The intent of the app is to address that distance, he added.
“This is just the beginning,” Chien said, adding that other functions are to be added to the app.
The “digital chapter” became available for download on Tuesday, the party said.
Asked whether the KMT’s proposed referendum on food safety means that it is taking an “anti-US” stance, Chiang said that “guarding food safety ... has nothing to do with being pro-US or anti-US. This is an issue of food safety — no need to politicize it.”
On Wednesday, Chiang said that the KMT planned to launch a referendum on food safety on Sunday in response to a decision by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to ease restrictions on imports of US pork containing ractopamine and beef from cattle aged 30 months or older.
Additional reporting by CNA
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
RSS