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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Elections & Politics

Weng Hsiao-ling Calls Cuts to ‘Greenbird Fodder’; Executive Yuan Warns Misinformation Could Fill the Gap

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Approved/passed
  • Kuomintang lawmaker Weng Hsiao-ling proposed freezing or cutting media policy and public information budgets across several government agencies, mocking them as “Greenbird fodder.”
  • The annual budget cut NT$684 million from media policy and business promotion funds, including all such funding for the Executive Yuan and Ministry of Culture.
  • The Executive Yuan said the cuts would weaken public communication on policy changes, anti-fraud campaigns and cultural promotion, potentially giving misinformation more room to spread.

Taiwan’s Executive Yuan has warned that cuts to government communication budgets could make it harder for the public to receive accurate information quickly. The warning followed proposals by Kuomintang legislator Weng Hsiao-ling to freeze or reduce media policy and public information funds at several ministries.

Weng publicly mocked the funds as “Greenbird fodder,” a reference used in her criticism of the spending. This year’s media policy and business promotion budget totaled NT$1.38 billion, but legislators cut NT$684 million, or half of the allocation. The Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Culture lost their funds entirely, while the Mainland Affairs Council faced an 89% reduction.

The Executive Yuan said the cuts would restrict government communication about new policies, public measures and anti-fraud campaigns. It argued that these activities were not simply publicity, but a channel for explaining major decisions and providing timely information.

When the government’s normal ability to communicate information is sharply restricted, misinformation could take advantage of the gap, making it harder for people to obtain accurate and complete government information at the earliest opportunity.

— Executive YuanThe government warned about the consequences of cutting media policy and public information funds.

The warning came after the Legislative Yuan approved the central government’s annual budget following a 351-day delay. The Kuomintang caucus said lawmakers cut NT$48 billion from originally planned spending of NT$3.035 trillion and described the reduction as an expression of goodwill. The Executive Yuan gave a different comparison, saying both cuts and freezes exceeded recent budget averages.

It also said the Ministry of Culture’s cultural promotion work would face a direct impact. Without normal channels for public communication, the government warned, misinformation could move into the space left behind and make it more difficult for people to obtain complete and accurate official information.

Policy communication is not simply publicity.

— Executive YuanThe government defended the purpose of the affected budgets.
About this summary

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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