Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday vowed to overturn a linguistic injustice to revive the Hakka language through a series of policy proposals, such as making Hakka a language of instruction at schools in predominantly Hakka communities.
“Due to a past policy of language repression [during the Martial Law era], many Hakka people, such as myself, are no longer able to speak Hakka. I believe many of your children or grandchildren are not able to speak Hakka fluently either,” Tsai told a crowd of more than 1,000 people, mostly Hakka, during a rally in Miaoli County. “I have said that one of my major policy objectives is to bestow transitional justice on society, and reviving Hakka is part of that objective to realize justice in language use.”
She said she would try to revive Hakka through creating a Hakka-friendly environment, including establishing schools, from kindergarten to elementary, in which the language of instruction would be Hakka in predominantly Hakka regions.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Tsai said the DPP is the only party that truly cares about Hakka culture.
“When the DPP was in power [from 2000 to 2008], we created the Hakka Affairs Council and Hakka TV,” Tsai said, adding that, if elected, she would increase the budget for Hakka TV, so it can produce more programs that appeal to both Hakka and non-Hakka audiences.
“If you go to [sections of] Provincial Highway No. 3 in Taoyuan, and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties that runs through Hakka communities, you would find abundant and diverse historic, cultural, artistic and agricultural resources,” Tsai said. “I often wonder why, when foreign tourists come to Taiwan, they often go to Taipei and then to the south or to the east, without visiting Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli counties. This is why I would like to make Provincial Highway No. 3 Taiwan’s own ‘Hakka Romantic Road’ to attract more visitors.”
While Hakka people, especially those in Miaoli, are generally considered pan-blue supporters, there was a surprising number of attendants from Hakka communities in Miaoli County, including traditional Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) grassroots campaigners, such as councilors, township mayors, Farmers’ Association officials, and borough and village wardens.
“When I speak to people during my campaign, I feel people’s desire for change, and the nation’s development can only happen through change,” Tsai said when asked if she was attempting to connect with KMT campaigners.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS