The Taiwan Pinyin League yesterday called on the Control Yuan to impeach Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), Minister Without Portfolio Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) and Minister of Education Cheng Jei-cheng (鄭瑞城) over their decision to replace Tongyong Pinyin with Hanyu Pinyin as the national standard Romanization system.
On International Mother Language Day yesterday, the Taiwan Pinyin League and its head Yu Bor-chuan (余伯泉), who led the team that designed Tongyong Pinyin, staged a rally to protest the government’s decision to adopt Hanyu Pinyin, saying it violated the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights.
PHOTO: CNA
IDEOLOGY
Yu said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was being guided by his ideology in replacing Tongyong Pinyin with Hanyu Pinyin, which would cost the nation between NT$7 billion (US$210 million) and NT$8 billion at a time when the public is struggling to make a living because of the recession.
Ma’s administration favors Hanyu Pinyin — invented in China — over Tongyong Pinyin because it belittles Taiwanese, Yu said.
WASTE
He said it would be a waste of money to replace Tongyong Pinyin with Hanyu Pinyin nationwide as a survey conducted by the education ministry showed that only 6 percent of the nation’s transliterations used pinyin.
Making the statement near the Taipei MRT’s Ximen station, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) and Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁) covered the letter “X” on the Ximen Station nameplate with an “S” sticker.
The councilors urged the government to at least adopt both Hanyu Pinyin and Tongyong Pinyin at the same time for use on road signs and street names.
Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation staffers at Ximen Station later removed the “S” sticker.
Ling Chi-yao (陵啟堯), a spokesman for the company, said that changing station names was up to the Taipei City Government because the company was owned by the government.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS