Political observers yesterday expressed divided views over the Cabinet's official approval of the Tongyong Pinyin as the nation's official system for Romanization and the plan to offer incentives to encourage local governments to adopt the system.
Local governments are free to decide whether it will follow the policy or not because the measure is an administrative order.
Emile Sheng (
"But instead of handling the matter in a professional manner, it becomes a political issue," Sheng said.
The form of spelling had been the source of strong political passions over the years and had boiled down to a duel between the Hanyu and the Tongyong systems. Other people formerly involved with the issue say they are exacerbated over the issue and have long since given up fighting for one side or the other, complaining that the issue has become politicized.
The Hanyu Pinyin system was developed in China and is now in use by most aca-demic institutions and other organizations as an international standard. The Tongyong system, on the other hand, was developed in Taiwan by a small group of Taiwanese linguists.
Taiwanese linguists argue that the Tongyong system is superior to the Hanyu Pinyin system because it is able to cope with not only Mandarin Chinese but also Taiwanese and Hakka, which are seen by many as important elements in Taiwan's cultural identity.
This identity issue is countered by supporters of the Hanyu camp who said that if Taiwan wants international recognition, it must adopt the international standard.
Sheng is one of those who supports this argument.
"If the Romanization system is mainly made for foreigners, it only makes sense to adopt the one they're most familiar with," he said. "The [Tongyong] policy is so ridiculous that it does nothing more than complicate the already chaotic situation," Sheng said.
However, Chin Heng-wei (金恆 煒), a political observer and editor in chief of Contemporary magazine, disagrees.
"If they want international recognition, why not discard Chinese altogether and use English as the official language instead?" Chin asked. "France can win international recognition but they don't use English street signs."
Commenting on the govern-ment's policy of allowing local governments to decide whether to follow the policy, Chin said that it is intended to avoid political confrontation, especially with the Taipei City Government, which is insisting on using Hanyu as its
Romanization standard.
"The tables will turn if incumbent Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
In addition to Taipei City, the KMT-led Hsinchu City and County have said that they will defy the policy. The KMT-led Taitung County said it will follow the policy only if the central government subsidizes the cost.
Ku Chung-hwa (
"Let's face it, the policy is a compromise under political pressure," Ku said. "Rome isn't built in one day. I don't think the government's policy makes that much of a difference to foreigners who have already been confused by our spelling systems."
In addition to Tonyong and Hanyu, there are two more commonly used systems: a modified version of Wade-Giles, which was created by British scholars in the 19th century and is currently being used for most proper nouns in English newspapers in Taiwan, and Second Chuyin (注音二式).
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and