Premier Yu Shyi-kun's English skills were tested to the limit yesterday at the legislature when TSU lawmaker John Wang (王政中) quizzed him in English during an interpellation session.
"I heard from abroad that MOFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] is arranging a meeting between the first lady and the first lady of the US, Laura Bush. Is this a correct assumption?" Wang asked in fluent English.
The legislator, representing overseas Chinese communities, was referring to the recent itinerary of first lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍), who is visiting Washington.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Failing to understand the question, the premier looked perplexed.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新), who stood next to Yu, came to his rescue and gave Yu a translation.
Yu then replied in Mandarin that he had had a bumpy educational process and that his skill in languages was not as good as most people's. "[Therefore] my English is very bad, I only speak a little English," Yu added, in English.
"This is quite OK because I think it is important that you try as a leader of the nation. I think it is a good start," Wang said.
Wang, who grew up in the US and has a very limited Mandarin ability, said the reason he questioned the premier in English was to remind people to improve their command of English as part of Taiwan's globalization drive.
"Leaders such as Yu or President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should take the lead," he said.
The lawmaker is the son of Kenjohn Wang (王桂榮), chairman of the Taiwanese-American Foundation, a pro-independence group in the US.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
RSS