The Council for Cultural Affairs Vice Chairman Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) yesterday said that the nation would have no specific official language once the National Languages Development Law (國家語言發展法) passes through the legislature.
The law would also allow district governments to decide their own common languages, Wu said.
After the Council for Cultural Affairs listed language as a preserved item in the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law (文化資產保存法) last year, the Executive Yuan ordered the council to take over the drafting of the language law from the Mandarin Promotion Council under the Ministry of Education.
Referring to the Language Fairness Law of the Cabinet's Hakka Affairs Commission (客家委員會) and the Indigenous Peoples Languages Development Law of the Cabinet's Council of Indigenous Peoples (原住民委員會), the new law aims to preserve and develop national tongues and help arrest the disappearance of minority languages, Wu said.
Wu said the law would designate "national languages" as languages that are used by different ethnic groups in Taiwan while "common languages" would be the languages regulated by local councils.
This means, Wu said, that "the term `official language' will no longer exist."
As for which language the central government will use in public speeches, Wu said the choice of language would be open to the speaker.
"For example, if the central government lists three languages as common languages, then the speaker has the freedom to use any of those three. But there won't be any law to limit people to a specific language," Wu said.
"The gist of the law is that common languages cannot impede the development of other languages," Wu said, adding that the written word is not covered in the draft law.
Although Mandarin has long been used as the nation's official language, Wu said that there was no law that mandated a particular language as an official language.
Wu said that because regional governments have the power to decide their common languages, there will be a stipulation that ensures each region has more than one.
"We hope that there will be no specific language that predominates the usage," Wu said. "And there should be no particular language that has superiority over other languages in use."
When asked if the new rules would divide the nation, Wu said the law was drafted based on the principles of equity and autonomy.
"I believe that only through the understanding of other languages can a nation encourage solidarity," Wu said.
Also See Story:
Hakka leader Yeh worries about Hokkien in exams
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS