The president of Google's Chinese operations Lee Kai-fu (
Lee, who has been to the country's top universities to recruit engineers for the company's local research and development center which opened at the end of last month, said that young Taiwanese people do not work as hard as Chinese people, and lack the passion for pursuing ideals that young Americans have.
"Young people in Taiwan have global vision, but I worry about their definition of success and values. I think more students accept social values, and only care about making money," he said yesterday during the "World citizen -- be the best of yourself" forum held at National Taiwan Normal University.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The two also said integrity and honesty were the two key values both in the technology industry and in politics.
Asked about how to maintain these two values in China, Lee said that Google put significant effort into educating its employees.
"We spend a great deal of time helping our employees understand what's important, and making sure that they know the company's values," he said.
Ma, who is also the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) chairman, said political figures needed to promote such values, and used the occasion to defend himself.
"People compare me to a non-stick pan. I am when it comes to corruption and sex, but I stick to integrity and chastity," he said.
The two also discussed in private the recent controversy over Google's decision to bow to Web censorship by China's government.
Ma said Beijing's "soft control" was not good for China.
"Google will follow China's regulations, but on the other hand, it will provide another version which is not censored. But it [that version] may be logged off sometimes," Ma said, recounting his conversation with Lee after the forum.
Ma said it was understandable that the company needed to comply with the Chinese government's regulations in order to do business there, but Beijing's censorship would only result in a negative image.
In response to Google's recruitment of Taiwanese, Ma called on the government to be more open to help boost the country's competitiveness.
"Since we joined the WTO, we should be more open. This way, high-tech companies who set up R&D centers in Taiwan can encounter no limitations when attracting talent, including new talent from China," he said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS