Fri, Sep 05, 2003 page8

• Letters:

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  A matter of perspective

  Very rarely do I read something as ridiculous as Allen Yu's bold statement: "In China, foreigners can travel and communicate with ease" ("End linguistic quarantine," Letters, Sept. 1, page 8).

  Either Yu has never been to China, or he's a pan-blue supporter holding romanticized visions of the wonders of the PRC. I have news for Yu. More people in the PRC are illiterate with respect to the English language than in Taiwan. And I mean both on a per capita basis as well as pure numbers. In case Yu never bothered to figure it out, one of the few reasons many US businesses haven't moved to Shanghai and have remained in Hong Kong, for example, is because of the lower standard of English even in an "interna-tional" city such as Shanghai.

  And speaking of Hong Kong, it didn't use a Hanyu Pinying when it attracted foreign busi-nesses and capital many de-cades ago. I am still puzzled by Yu's adulation of Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Frankly, changing some street signs overnight isn't going to attract foreign capital. Like many of Ma's policies, it is but a cosmetic window dressing that is a mere attempt to cover up a real problem.

  No, Taiwan's ability to attract foreign businesses isn't based on what street signs it uses. Either Yu has never worked for a foreign company, or he's listening to too much propaganda. Foreign businesses look for investment opportunities first, not whether a country uses convenient street signs. If there isn't money to be made, foreign business still won't go to Taiwan, even if everyone speaks perfect English. By contrast, foreign businesses flock to China because of the market, not because the Chinese are great English speakers or are friendly to foreign businesses. Doing business in China, in case Yu never read anything other than pan-blue propaganda, is hardly a cakewalk.

  Rather, Taiwan needs to revamp its educational system such that it can provide the higher quality of workers that are attractive to high margin foreign investment. Taiwan is undergoing a period of change. It needs to shift, for example, from a hardware-based economy where it is quickly degenerating into a commodities market to a higher margin services economy where it is not competing on commodities pricing. Changing street signs won't do that overnight. Neither will electing a mayor that speaks passable English but lacks substance in policy.

  If anything, the debate over street signs is little more than a politicization of the Taiwan Strait problem. And more matter how much Yu worships Ma, the changing of street signs is a cosmetic change.

  Ryan Shih

  Hong Kong

  Allen Yu correctly pointed out that Taiwan's Romanization is a mess. However, instead of blaming the central government for adopting the Tongyong system, he should have criticized Ma for using the Hanyu system in Taipei. Two systems in a country will never work. They only create confusions and confrontations.

  People take it for granted to accept differences among British, American, Canadian and Australian English. There is no such thing as a universal standard for English. People also accept differences between traditional and simplified Chinese characters. As a matter of fact,Tongyong is much easier to learn than Hanyu. If Hanyu is a universal standard, Tongyong is even more qualified to be a universal standard for its simplicity and general applicability.

  People in Taiwan never had any linguistic choice before. They were forced to study Japanese for 50 years (1895-1945) and Mandarin for 58 years (1945-present). No one should import Hanyu from China and impose it on Taiwan again. Since Taiwan has decided to adopt Tongyong, let's all respect this unprecedented lingustic choice by Taiwan, support it wholeheartedly and use it consistently.

  Charles Hong

  Columbus, Ohio
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