President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said it was his presidential duty to preserve “Chinese culture (中華文化)” and hand it down to the next generation.
“It is our inescapable responsibility to pass on Chinese culture and as president of the Republic of China [ROC], it’s my duty to promote Chinese culture,” Ma said while attending the annual gathering of professional writers, painters and poets at the Chongyang Festival in Taipei.
The event was organized by Wen-Hsun magazine, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) affiliate.
Ma said he has dedicated himself to promoting Chinese culture since he was minister of justice and when he was Taipei mayor, he established the Taipei Chinese Character Festival.
“It is not conservative or stubborn,” he said. “It is an important undertaking in terms of history and culture. It is not political, but absolutely cultural.”
Ma said he was not against Chinese using simplified characters, but he would like to see them also understand traditional characters. He also expressed the hope that the Chinese government would include a list juxtaposing the two systems in its elementary and high school textbooks.
While traditional script was more difficult to learn, it was harder to forget, whereas simplified characters were easier to learn, but they were hard to remember, he said.
The president said Taiwan has recently seen a “new climate” in its cultural development, pointing to the passage of the Cultural and Creative Industry Development Act (文化創意產業發展法) in the legislature in January and the agreement Taipei and Beijing signed on intellectual property rights (IPR) in June, which seeks to protect the IPR of Taiwanese and expand the Chinese market.
The legal revision to upgrade the Council for Cultural Affairs to a ministry of culture was estimated to be completed by 2012, he said, adding that he would also like to see the establishment of a “Taiwan Academy” overseas to promote traditional Chinese characters.
Referring to the ROC’s centennial next year, Ma said “we should demonstrate the 100 years of our efforts to preserve the value of Chinese culture and the Taiwanese spirit, especially in the past 60 years.”
“The series of centennial celebrations next year would be tantamount to a year-long Taiwan expo that will not only deepen and make known the essences of Chinese culture in Taiwan, but also further transform it to be a core value that will serve as the base of the nation’s development,” the president said.
Commenting on Ma’s remarks, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said Ma would not be qualified to call himself president of the ROC if he defines “Chinese culture” as that defined by Beijing.
While Ma defined Taiwan’s culture as “Chinese culture with Taiwanese characteristics,” Chen said Taiwanese and Chinese cultures are two different things.
“Taiwanese culture is Taiwanese culture and Chinese culture is Chinese culture,” Chen said. “Taiwan has its own culture and it is brand new. There is no such thing as a Greater China culture here. If there is, it only fits the definition of Ma and his cohorts, not that of the Taiwanese.”
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS