The Examination Yuan has come up with "four noes" as guidelines for the setting of national-level exams. About three of these noes, no political ideology in questions, no racial or sexual discrimination and no classical Chinese literature, we have no complaint. But given the importance of building a Taiwan-centered consciousness, not only among the public at large but in the bureaucracy -- which since 1945 has been a redoubt of an ethnic group with very mixed loyalties -- the fourth no can only be regarded as a huge mistake.
We refer, of course, to the decision that exams are not to be based on any "dialects that have not been accepted by the general public." This weasel phrase actually means languages spoken by the people of Taiwan, such as Hoklo, Hakka or Aboriginal tongues.
So what language is to be used for exams? Well, the very one which almost no native used in Taiwan until it was imposed upon Taiwanese by their foreign overlords in 1945 and ruthlessly promoted during the decades of colonial government that followed -- namely, Mandarin Chinese. So amid efforts to raise a national consciousness, exams for the civil service must be taken in the language of Taiwan's former oppressors and current enemies. It is hard to think of anything more crass.
The reason why Mandarin Chinese has been chosen as the only medium for national exams is that it is the one language that everybody who has been through the education system -- which presumably includes all those likely to sit for civil service exams -- can be guaranteed to speak, so well did the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) do its work. So by adopting the Mandarin-only rule, examiners can ensure that no ethnic group is left out.
But Taiwan needs civil servants who identify with Taiwan, and it would seem reasonable to expect that someone born and educated here who identifies with the country might -- in fact should -- be expected to speak one of its languages. So some kind of local language component in the exams should be a priority and all exams should have a local-language component.
This could be a simply an extra paper testing candidates' ability in a local language. Or this paper could be dropped for those who choose take a paper in any other subject using a local language. The idea is a simple one. Have exams mainly in Mandarin if you wish, but make sure that all candidates are fluent in at least one of the island's languages as well. And, of course, it should be up to the candidates to choose which local language they wish to be tested in.
One problem about such a system is that it will make the Examination Yuan's task significantly harder; it will have to set and mark exams not only in Mandarin but also Hoklo, Hakka and any of the 12 recognized Aboriginal languages. Who in the Examination Yuan is capable of setting or marking an exam in the Tao language spoken on Orchid Island? On the other hand, this is a wonderful chance to bring one of the stuffiest of Taiwan's bureaucracies into contact with a wonderful range of linguistic and cultural diversity.
One group is sure to complain about such an arrangement, and that is the small number of Mainlander Mandarin monoglots who monopolized Taiwan's bureaucracy for half a century. They will protest about a "linguistic apartheid." Yet of course it is they who practiced linguistic apartheid, and the system we propose which could bring this to an end. Nothing prevents Mainlanders from learning a local language, as People First Party Chairman James Soong (
What Taiwan needs is an exam system in tune with both its cultural and ethnic diversity and responsive to the nation's needs. The Examination Yuan's new language rule is exactly the opposite.
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China