Several Hakka groups formed a task force yesterday, with support from People First Party (PFP) legislators, to deal with the issue of language usage in the national examinations.
They plan to demand an apology from the Examination Yuan, and ensure that no more questions in the Hokkien language will appear in future national examinations.
To illustrate their ire, they plan to ask Hakka-speaking legislators to question their Hokkien-speaking colleagues on the floor of the Legislative Yuan.
In the national promotion exam for customs officials and the admittance exams for police this year, there were a few questions on the reading-comprehension part written in the Hokkien language.
The passages used traditional Chinese characters, but made sense only to speakers of Hokkien. The situation roused anger from various non-Hokkien quarters, especially among the Hakka.
There have been a number of conferences held since mid-September dealing with the issue, culminating in yesterday's seminar of Taipei City Bureau of Hakka Affairs, the World Hakka Federation (世界客屬總會) and several other Hakka groups which concluded that they shall form the task force to ask for an apology for test questions they consider discriminatory.
"What we are looking for now is an apology from the Examination Yuan, and a guarantee that no more questions in the Hokkien language appear on future national examinations, said Liu Sheng-liang (
"Meanwhile, we also demand all points lost on the questions in the Hokkien language in this year's national examination be marked correct on every exam," Liu said
Liu said that if the government did not respond favorably to their demands, they might consider taking to the streets to protest against what they say is the Democratic Progress Party's (DPP) discrimination against Hakka people.
Chen Shih-shan (
"We hope that society can consider harmony of all cultures as the top priority and give politics little consideration. Harmony of all ethnic groups and cultural diversities are what we are striving for," Chen said.
PFP Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (
"The DPP has been bullying the ethnic minorities for a long time. By allowing questions in the Hokkien language, they again showed their discriminatory attitude toward other ethnic groups," Lu said.
"To make the DPP see their own discrimination, I will try to have my other Hakka colleagues in the legislature question government officials in the Hakka language. We will also put ads in the newspapers to protest against the DPP's discrimination against the Hakka people."
Lee Yung-ping (
Lee threatened to support budget cuts for the Examination Yuan next year if the body could not guarantee that in future questions in the Hokkien language would be stricken.
"The questions in the Hokkien language this year were very difficult to answer. Hokkien people who were not familiar with Hokkien words had problems answering them too," Lee said.
"Thanks to the Hakka people who have stood out to speak for those who suffered, otherwise we would not have realized how bad the discrimination was," Lee said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard