DPP lawmakers and government officials yesterday defended the Executive Yuan's decision to return to the education minister a proposal on the choice of an official Mandarin Romanization system, saying a decision on the issue required more time.
"I do not agree with other lawmakers who say that the return [of the proposal] was a misstep in terms of procedures. Rather, I think it indicates the Executive Yuan's respect for professionals in the Ministry of Education," DPP lawmaker Chen Chin-jun (
"If the matter were to be returned after being discussed by the Educational Reform Group (
PHOTO: CHU YU-PING, TAIPEI TIMES
The reform group is a task force under the Executive Yuan that advises on educational policies.
Opposition lawmakers said political influences were affecting the choice of an official Mandarin Romanization system, after Chinese-language newspapers reported on Sunday that the proposal sent by Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (
Tzeng had recommended, against the advice of an advisory group his ministry appointed to review the issue, that the government implement the Hanyu Pinyin system.
Hanyu is the Romanization system used in China and at the UN.
Tzeng had suggested on Oct. 30 that the Executive Yuan adopt Hanyu Pinyin as the standard Mandarin Romanization system.
The politically-charged selection of a Mandarin Romanization system has occupied the media limelight for months, with supporters and opponents of both Hanyu Pinyin and Tongyong Pinyin, a system similar to Hanyu but pitched as being able to more closely reflect various Taiwanese linguistic idiosyncrasies.
"As far as I know, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen said Tzeng needed more time to reconsider the controversial issue.
Tzeng told legislators who questioned him yesterday he had not received a rejection letter from the Executive Yuan, but instead had received a letter urging him to gather broader support for the Hanyu Pinyin measure.
Tzeng reiterated his support of Hanyu Pinyin as the preferable Romanization system and said it would be a bad decision for the Executive Yuan to adopt Tongyong, because Hanyu is a more widely used.
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