Tue, Jan 21, 2025 page3

• Budget cuts to hinder many agencies

  EXTREME: MODA and the NCC would be unable to do their work properly with the proposed NT$1 budget, which would affect people’s safety and Taiwan’s progress

  • By Shelley Shan / Staff Reporter
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  Opposition lawmakers’ proposals to drastically truncate the budgets for the National Communications Commission (NCC) and the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) to just NT$1 would affect the launch of new products in Taiwan, undermine work to shore up the nation’s digital resilience, and hinder the government’s efforts to crack down on phone scams and Internet fraud, the two agencies said yesterday.

  The NCC was allocated a budget of NT$746 million for this fiscal year, which would cover its personnel and operational costs, the NCC said in a statement.

  The operational costs include utility fees and communication fees, but do not include advertising fees, it said, adding that a drastic cut of the NCC’s budget would shut down the agency.

  

  Legislators vote during a session of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: CNA

  “The NCC would not be able to handle certifications of communication equipment used on ships,” the NCC said, adding that it had handled 25,600 certifications last year.

  The launch and import of new products such as smartphones might be affected if the NCC ceases to operate, it said.

  The budget cut would also impede the commission’s ability to inspect and certify the fixed communication equipment installed within buildings, the NCC added.

  

  Legislative staff prepare paperwork ahead of lawmakers’ vote on the central govenrment’s budget proposals at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: CNA

  Telecom carriers’ plans to install new disaster-resistant base stations to combat challenges brought by climate change might also be delayed if they fail to secure NCC certifications for their equipment, it said, adding that it would further weaken the nation’s ability to maintain communication during disasters.

  To effectively crack down on phone scams, NCC staff regularly need to inspect telecoms’ retail stores, and they would need a budget for those trips, it said.

  Meanwhile, the ministry said that such a drastic budget cut would reverse the country’s progress in tackling Internet fraud.

  “We have asked Meta and Google to adopt a real-name system to manage advertisements posted on their platforms. Meta and Line would use [artificial intelligenc] AI to search for scam messages on their platforms and inform us, and we ask them to take down those messages,” Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-jing (林宜敬) said yesterday.

  “Through such collaborative efforts, we have seen a rapid decline in celebrity-impersonation scams or fake advertisements on Facebook. The work would not be able to continue without funding,” he said.

  Taiwan faces 2.4 million cyberattacks from overseas and hostile regimes daily, so the ministry’s Administration Cyber Security closely monitors any changes in key infrastructure around the clock, Lin said, adding that the ministry had installed 773 nonsynchronous satellite network receiving stations around the nation and developed a high-altitude communications balloon.

  Additionally, the exponential growth in the development of AI technology presents a challenge and an opportunity, and the ministry planned to tackle those through funding, talent, data and AI computing, Lin said.

  None of those goals would be realized without a budget, he said.

  Opposition lawmakers have also proposed that the Mainland Affairs Council operate on a NT$1 budget as well.

  “The council only has a small budget of NT$1 per year, which would be used to fund the work to counter Chinese infiltration and ‘united front’ tactics collect intelligence and conducts assessments. The budget would also have to cover expenses needed to keep Taiwan’s offices in Hong Kong and Macau open. None of these would be possible with just a NT$1 budget,” MAC Deputy Chairman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said.

  Meanwhile, the National Police Agency (NPA) said the proposed budget cut would affect law-and-order police work at all levels.

  The agency said it would be unable to protect the public’s safety and the cuts could make it easier for criminals to commit crimes.

  The opposition’s proposal to freeze NT$3 billion from the agency’s budget would result in a lack of operating funds, it said, adding that it would likely lead to an increase in money scams, drug smuggling and violence.

  People would lose trust in law enforcement, so every citizen could be victimized, the NPA said.

  The Ministry of Justice said the opposition’s proposed NT$48 million budget cut for the Taipei District Prosecutors Office and High Prosecutors’ Office would severely undermine their work in prosecuting and fighting money scams, bribery, corruption, drug smuggling and technology-related crimes.

  The proposed NT$100 million cut for the Agency of Corrections would reduce medical treatment and counseling for inmates, which would negatively affect their mental and emotional state, and make rehabilitation harder, the ministry said.

  Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) also called for a rational review of the agriculture ministry’s budget, as they work to prevent the outbreak of African swine fever and help farmers prepare for disasters, such as typhoons.

  Additional reporting by Jason Pan and Chen Yu-fu
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