A coalition of organizations yesterday filed a lawsuit at the Taipei District Court seeking to overturn the government policy of having Mandarin as the nation’s only official language.
The two main plaintiffs are Brian Qo (吳崑松), an expert in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and author of Tong Iong Taiwanese Dictionary (通用台語字典), and Taiwanese National Party (TNP) Chairman Tsua Gim-liong (蔡金龍).
Qo said he is acting on behalf of everyone who loves the nation and wants to protect the local cultures and Taiwan’s many mother tongues.
“We must refute the notion that Mandarin is the only official language in Taiwan,” Qo said. “It is an illegitimate policy, designed by the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] to eradicate the nation’s culture, identity and linguistic diversity.”
Mandarin is the language of China’s Beijing area, he said, adding that it has no link to Taiwanese, “yet it was imposed on us by force and the threat of persecution by the authoritarian rule of the KMT during the Martial Law era.”
Qo said it is time to end the Mandarin-only policy practiced in government, education and judicial circles, as well as the media, most state agencies, and most of the public and private sectors, adding that increased use of local languages should be promoted.
Other groups supporting the litigation included Taiwan Society North, Taiwanese National Congress, Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan, Organization for Taiwanese National Declaration, Taiwan Human Rights and Cultural Association, 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign and Happy National Connections in Taiwan.
Tsua said that the KMT government has violated people’s right to cultural identity and the right to use their mother-tongue languages, adding that it was also a violation of several international conventions.
“After losing the Chinese Civil War, the KMT was an exile regime that fled China and occupied Taiwan illegally,” Tsua said.
“It used totalitarian methods to silence any dissent,” he said, adding that the litigation is also seeking a judicial review by calling into question the legitimacy of the KMT’s Republic of China government structure and the current use of what he labeled the KMT’s national anthem and flag.
Those three things have no legal basis and do not represent Taiwanese at all, he said.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all