An Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission official yesterday said that the commission hoped to raise awareness of the importance of traditional Chinese characters overseas through conferences and other activities.
Cheng Tong-hsing (
Speaking to reporters, Cheng said that he hoped both overseas Taiwanese and foreigners would realize how important traditional Chinese characters were.
The commission is currently planning several activities overseas to promote and teach the traditional Chinese language and characters to overseas Chinese and foreigners, Cheng said.
This came in the wake of local media reports that the UN has plans to use only simplified Chinese characters on its Web sites and documents starting in 2008, replacing its current policy of using both simplified and full-form Chinese characters.
The plans have not been officially verified by the UN.
The commission has always been dedicated to the promotion of Chinese language education and wanted to use this opportunity to raise more awareness of and support for traditional Chinese characters overseas, Cheng said.
"I think that the Taiwanese are in general angry at the UN's plans," he said. "The public has not yet strongly voiced their protests, but if the government heads such a protest, the public will likely be very supportive."
Meanwhile, Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (
Tu said that the education ministry was in the process of verifying the UN's plans.
Regardless of what the UN's decision is, Taiwan will continue to teach the traditional form, he said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS