According to Chinese-language media reports, the UN will abandon its policy of using both simplified and full-form Chinese characters in 2008, when it will start using only China's simplified system. This move is tantamount to changing the "cultural status quo," making Taiwan the last independent repository (unlike Hong Kong) of traditional Chinese script.
China's simplified system was invented after Mao Zedong's (
China's economic development has expanded the influence of culture and other "soft powers," thereby sparking a global interest in Chinese culture. China has taken advantage of these developments to set up "Confucian academies" (
The traditional Chinese script is a writing system that has evolved over thousands of years. Not only is the traditional system freely adaptable to changing conditions, but it is also an art form through which calligraphic styles can be presented in an artistic fashion. The simplified Chinese writing system is by no means as artistic. And even if the UN abandons full-form characters in favor of the simplified system, the use of traditional script will remain orthodox in Chinese calligraphy.
The Chinese Communist Party has in recent years turned away from the excesses of the Cultural Revolution by once again revering Confucius and establishing Confucian academies around the world. Publications relating to Confucius, Mencius (
A common language and writing system is a prerequisite for territorial and ethnic integration. The strongest foundation for cross-strait exchanges is that both sides once used the same writing system. Be it pressure from Beijing or UN efforts to cut down on costs by using only simplified Chinese characters, the move to eradicate full-form characters reeks of politics and seeks to restrict the continued evolution of Chinese script. By doing so, it will leave each side of the Taiwan Strait with its own writing system, further contributing to their division. This might turn out to be a good thing for Taiwan.
Full-form characters may appear to be at a disadvantage, as the nation and its traditional script become even more isolated. But from another perspective, they allow Taiwan to lay ironic claim to greater cultural independence.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
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Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under