Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday called on the government to look into possible political factors in what is regarded as US opposition to Taipei establishing units in its representative offices to promote the use and learning of traditional Chinese characters.
Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC) Minister Wu Ying-yih (吳英毅) told the legislature’s Foreign and Defense Committee that a recent media report said the government’s plan to establish “Taiwan Academies” as part of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices in Houston and Los Angeles had hit a snag in Washington.
“The US initially thought we planned to run fee-based -Mandarin-language classes, but the point had been fully clarified. Everything is ready now. We are just awaiting approval from the US so that we can get started,” Wu said.
Wu said that US law forbids fee-charging language classes operated by foreign governments in its territory, a rule that is universally applied to foreign representative offices to protect private language schools.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) was not convinced and said the reason why the US opposed the plan might be that the name “Taiwan Academies” displeased Beijing.
“Wasn’t it because the name ‘Taiwan Academies’ carries the implication of Taiwan’s sovereignty? I believe China was behind the US’ opposition to the plan,” Tsai said.
Wu said that in his view, the US was a country that has a backbone and was not easily influenced by others.
KMT Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said the commission could have overlooked the real nature of the problem by saying it was simply a matter of US prohibiting charging fees for language classes.
“To run language courses that charge a fee is not a significant issue. The real reason [for alleged US opposition to the academies] is that the US Department of State has allowed China to set up Confucius Institutes. The OCAC should not simplify the problem,” Chang said.
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