The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislative caucus yesterday criticized the Executive Yuan for spending up to NT$103 million (US$3.57 million) creating “propaganda” to influence public opinion after it recruited up to nine people to create memes.
The TPP made the claims at a news conference at the legislature in Taipei as Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) delivered a policy report to legislators.
TPP Legislator Kao Hung-an (高虹安) said that the Executive Yuan Department of Information Services allocated budgets of NT$29.7 million, NT$25.7 million, NT$24.5 million and NT$22.9 million from 2017 to this year respectively for public communications and labor procurement.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The successful bidders of communications and labor procurement projects in the past four years have been the same few firms, Kao said.
An additional NT$6.8 million was spent this year recruiting nine contract workers to create slogans and memes, she said.
Some of the slogans and memes contain content that contravenes administrative neutrality, and they were actually smear campaigns against opposition parties, several of which were posted on Su’s Facebook page, she added.
The Budget Act (預算法) states that policy advocacy in which the government has provided more than 50 percent of the funding should be clearly marked as an advertisement sponsored by the government, so the Executive Yuan should have clearly marked the slogans and memes, Kao said.
TPP caucus whip Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) questioned the Executive Yuan’s procurement process, as the successful bidders were the same few companies, including one recruitment services company that won labor procurement bids in three consecutive years.
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) had promised to reduce the number of contract workers in government agencies when he was the premier, but while there was only one contract worker in the Department of Information Services at that time, there are now nine contract workers, Lai Hsiang-ling said.
In response, the Executive Yuan said that government agencies were looking to improve policy promotion by recruiting personnel with specialized skills.
Employees had been asked to create memes and slogans that would enable the public to better understand policies, while saving costs by subcontracting the work specialist firms, it said.
New slogans and memes would be sent to the legislature for review and the sponsoring agency would be clearly marked, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS