Rome was not built in a day. Neither can Romanization be completed overnight. Politically, Taiwan has gone through difficult processes of decolonization and democratization. But Romanization of location names in Taiwan will be as easy as "ABC."
In essence, Tongyong Pinyin for Romanization is different from Hanyu Pinyin only in three consonants.
A major advantage of Tongyong is to use "ci" and "si" instead of the two puzzling consonants "q" and "x" in Hanyu.
For foreigners and Taiwanese with or without Hanyu background, it will be much easier to read. For example, it's Banciao and Sindian in Tongyong instead of Banqiao and Xindian in Hanyu. The other different consonant is "jh" in Tongyong instead of "zh" in Hanyu, for example Jhanghua v. Zhanghua.
Another advantage of Tongyong is its versatility for different languages in Taiwan or even major languages in the world. For example, in Hoeloe (a Tongyong spelling of "Hoklo," also known as Taiwanese -Ed) language ("oe" is the German umlaut of "o"), Banciao, Sindian and Jhanghua will be pronounced as Banggioe, Sindiam and Jionghua.
Another Hoeloe example is "oea" for oyster and "oa" for taro. In contrast, Hanyu does not have "oe" or "iam" among others.
There are no reasons for Mayor Ma Ying-jeou to reject Tongyong and adopt Hanyu in Taipei unless he really wants Taiwan to become a country with two systems. I hope he will not become a horse troubling the whole herd. Using his excellent English, he can learn the three different Tonyong consonants in three minutes.
His Mandarin is also perfect, but is different from Mandarin spoken in China. In the same manner, Tongyong is easy and versatile although it is slightly different from Hanyu.
I would not be surprised if, someday, China wanted to adopt Tongyong for its convenience and general applicability.
As the leading English newspaper in Taiwan, the Taipei Times should play a role in promoting the Tongyong system. It is advisable to compile a Tongyong Romanization dictionary for common Chinese words and phonetic syllables in Mandarin, Hoeloe, Hakka and Aboriginal languages by your editors with manpower and financial support from the government. Romanized names of counties, cities, towns and villages in Taiwan should be included.
In addition, the Taipei Times should help the government edit important official English documents.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
Deflation in China is persisting, raising growing concerns domestically and internationally. Beijing’s stimulus policies introduced in September last year have largely been short-lived in financial markets and negligible in the real economy. Recent data showing disproportionately low bank loan growth relative to the expansion of the money supply suggest the limited effectiveness of the measures. Many have urged the government to take more decisive action, particularly through fiscal expansion, to avoid a deep deflationary spiral akin to Japan’s experience in the early 1990s. While Beijing’s policy choices remain uncertain, questions abound about the possible endgame for the Chinese economy if no decisive
Actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) on March 13 posted an Instagram caption after the opening of Tiffany’s Taipei flagship store two days earlier that read: “Thank you Tiffany for inviting us to Taipei China.” We know that Yeoh knows Taipei is in Taiwan, not China, because the caption was posted following comments she made — in English — in which she said: “Thank you to Tiffany for bringing me to Taipei, because I do love this country very much.” Her remarks and the subsequent Instagram caption were reported in Taiwan, in Chinese and English- language media such as Radio Free Asia, and overseas,
China poses a dire threat to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry as it steps up efforts to poach Taiwan’s top chip talent, following the US’ implementation of stringent chip restrictions. Beijing is keen to develop its own semiconductor technologies, leveraging skilled engineers from Taiwan, Europe and other countries to circumvent US restrictions on providing China access to advanced US chips, particularly those used in artificial intelligence applications, as well as other chip technologies and manufacturing equipment. Taiwan has always contended with talent competition from China, but the situation is worsening. The Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday said that China’s ARK Semi and