Yu keeps his options open on language

Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday that the government might consider designating official languages in the Constitution, as 112 other countries have done.

"The Constitution and existing laws do not specify any particular language as the nation's official language, so constitutional amendments or legislation would be needed to legalize an official language," Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) quoted Yu as saying.

There is no doubt that Mandarin is the nation's most commonly used official language, judging from a functional and practical point of view, Yu was quoted as saying.

"Of course, we'll respect public opinion and the decision of the legislature, which has the final say on the matter," Yu said.

Yu also explained why the Cabinet decided in March to let the Council for Cultural Affairs take over the drafting of a language law from the Mandarin Promotion Council under the Ministry of Education.

"The United Nations has expressed its concern over the gradual disappearance of Taiwan's native tongues," Yu said.

As the disappearance of native languages would be a loss to mankind, Yu said, the Cabinet thought it was a good idea to let the Council for Cultural Affairs handle the drafting of the language law to help conserve and develop the nation's languages.

Yu made the remarks after the weekly closed-door Cabinet meeting yesterday morning at which Government Information Office head Huang Hui-chen (黃輝珍) briefed ministers on public opinion of the subject.

A draft of the national languages development law (國家語言發展法), approved by the Council for Cultural Affairs on Monday, caused a stir by stating that the nation has no official language and that local governments may decide what languages they want to use.

During the Cabinet meeting, Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) said that designating an official language was a sensitive topic, because political ideologies are polarized.

"If amending the Constitution is the way to go in terms of designating the official language, I hope Mandarin is not the only language taken into consideration," Huang said.

Council for Hakka Affairs Chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), who recently visited Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) to express her opposition to Hoklo language questions in the national examination for civil servants, said that each language should be treated equally.

"The government has to move very carefully in designating the nation's official language because all languages spoken by ethnic groups are a nation's important cultural heritage," she said.

But discussion of language was overshadowed yesterday by the ongoing rift between Lin and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

The quarrel began after Lin claimed that at last week's Cabinet meeting Ma had likened the Cabinet's plan to hold non-binding referendums to China's Cultural Revolution.

Ma requested an apology from Lin, saying he had been misquoted.

The mayor yesterday seemed to claim victory in the squabble.

"I believe [Lin] must have learned a lesson from this incident," Ma told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

Lin retorted by saying he hoped Ma himself had been "enlightened" by the incident.

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