Two separate events on Monday afternoon reflect the linguistic changes in this country brought about by democratization. The first event was a press conference called by Council for Cultural Affairs Vice Chairman Wu Mi-cha (
The intent behind this legislation is to protect and preserve disadvantaged languages which are in danger of extinction after being marginalized by the forced usage of Mandarin for so many decades. Under the proposed law, all languages used in Taiwan would become national languages and be given equal status.
The bill would authorize the different levels of government -- central, county, etc -- to designate common languages in the areas under their jurisdiction. This would mean the country would have more than one common language. What is extraordinary about this bill is the separation of spoken languages from written ones. Under the bill, once the various governments designate common languages, the language users themselves would decide which language to use on official occasions.
About the same time that Wu was holding his press conference, Council for Hakka Affairs Chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (
The council's language bill is based on the concept of plurality, respect for all ethnic groups and concern for their interests. It is aimed at reversing past language policies dominated by Mandarin and enriching the country's linguistic assets.
Since the Democratic Progressive Party's Chen Shui-bian (
The KMT's national language policy created a single common language, but the deliberate suppression of other languages caused those languages to wither. For example, even though Hoklo-speaking people are the biggest group in the country, not many people under the age of 30 in northern Taiwan can speak fluent Hoklo, even though it is still a common language in the south. Such language loss is even more serious among the Hakka and Aborigines.
The Council for Cultural Affairs is working to transcend the unification versus independence political dispute and allow all ethnic groups to liberate their linguistic energies. Under its proposed bill, administrative procedures will become more complex. For example, because test-takers will be able to decide which common language to use in government tests, multi-language test format and facilities will have to be available. Moreover, when a head of state delivers a speech in a language other than Mandarin, the speech will have to be translated into several languages.
The development of languages is fluid, especially in dynamic Taiwan, where the interaction between different languages may create a richer language environment. The proposed policy will create many problems -- as well as opportunities -- but it is vastly preferable to the previous KMT administra-tion's policy of linguistic favoritism.
A Facebook post by Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) earlier this month achieved record levels of engagement — although perhaps inadvertently. In it, he attacked Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) for an op-ed published in 2014 discussing drug harm reduction policies. In attempting to stir up fear with talk of community centers, drugs and needles, Chiang’s comment section exploded. More than 100,000 comments poured in within the first two hours; more than 330,000 after the first 12; and more than 400,000 by noon the following day. Rather embarrassingly, many commenters made a point
Southeast Asian food delivery platform Grab Holdings Ltd in March applied to acquire Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda operations in Taiwan, with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) scheduled to announce its decision on Oct. 27. On the surface, the deal is a business merger — but in substance, it involves personal data, national geospatial information and digital sovereignty. It cannot be assessed solely in terms of market share and price competition. Grab has extensive and long-standing connections to Chinese capital. In 2015, Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing and China Investment Corp, a sovereign wealth fund, invested in Grab. Grab invested in Chinese autonomous-driving
The official English name for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) campaign is “the Taipei Current.” It comes from the Chinese term yangliu (洋流), a direct translation of which would be “Ocean Wave,” using the last character of Shen’s name, yang (洋, “ocean”). The Chinese term is a reference to the 2018 campaign for Kaohsiung mayor that swept a hitherto marginal player within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who is now legislative speaker, whose successful campaign then was termed the “Han Wave” (韓流). Shen’s usage of the Chinese term is intentional.
The relocation of Taipei International Airport (Songshan Airport), which Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) proposed on Thursday, has been debated for years. Mayoral candidates have previously advocated preserving the site as a park and green space, which I would have no objection to. However, plans for the site to undergo intensive development would risk overloading the land’s carrying capacity and seriously exacerbate the severity of potential earthquakes. While a major offshore megathrust earthquake would severely affect Taipei and New Taipei City, movement along the Shanchiao Fault (山腳斷層) could mean an earthquake or subsidence event taking place right underneath the city,
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