End linguistic quarantine
Daily communication is one of the biggest problems for foreigners doing business in Taiwan. Not only do few Taiwanese speak English well, but signs and addresses are often incomprehensible to foreign businesspeople. As foreign investment in Taiwan shrinks, romanization has become a significant economic issue. Adopting a romanization that foreigners can understand is important to Taiwan's economic vitality.
Unfortunately, romanization has a long history of confusion in Taiwan. In recent years there has been a drive to standardize romanization. The business community has consistently lobbied for the government to adopt Hanyu Pinyin romanization, the international standard. But after endless meetings and discussions, Taiwan's romanization mess is still as confused as ever. Romanization is vitally important to the foreign business community. Visiting buyers and investors rely on romanized Mandarin for the most basic types of communication: writing addresses on envelopes, reading name cards, and comprehending the island's maps and street signs.
Romanization is a vital tool for business. Considering the economic significance of romanization, the central government's continued failure to adopt Hanyu Pinyin has left Taiwan's foreign business community irritated and dismayed.
Taiwan has two main romanization systems. Taipei City uses Hanyu Pinyin for street signs and addresses. All of the street signs in Taipei have been changed over to Hanyu Pinyin, much to the delight of the foreign business community. Members of ECCT have personally congratulated Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for handling the romanization problem so efficiently. Ma deserves public recognition for his sound leadership on this issue.
On romanization policy, the central government is a sad contrast. Despite years of consistent lobbying for Hanyu by the foreign business community, the central government nevertheless continues to promote Tongyong. No one outside of Taiwan uses Tongyong, and foreigners find it odd and incomprehensible. Even so, many street signs outside of Taipei are being switched over to Tongyong. As a result, foreigners cannot read street signs in areas outside of Taipei. Tongyong is putting Taiwan under linguistic quarantine, cutting us off from the rest of the world.
The problem with Tongyong is simple: no one can read it. More than 98 percent of the world's Chinese speakers live outside Taiwan and all of them use Hanyu Pinyin. It is not just standard; it is universal. It is the system used by the UN, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and governments and universities around the world.
Although less than than 2 percent of the world's Chinese speakers live on Taiwan, the government has invented a completely new system for romanizing Mandarin. Residents of Taiwan's ivory tower claim that foreigners will bother to learn an obscure new system. Of course this is absurd. Foreigners will ignore the system, and Tongyong will become an endless source of misunderstanding between Taiwan and the rest of the world.
The central government has handled the romanization issue very strangely. Instead of asking the foreign community which romanization system they prefer, government agencies have turned to so-called local experts to decide which system is best for foreigners to use.
Even though foreigners have consistently demanded Hanyu Pinyin, "experts" falsely claim that foreigners prefer Tongyong. Taiwan's foreign managers are highly skilled and educated people who are quite capable of deciding which system they prefer. The central government's approach is extremely patronizing to the foreign business community.
Romanization is an important economic issue. The biggest problem facing us today is the hollowing out of Taiwan's economy. Because so many Taiwanese are taking their capital to China, Taiwan is more dependent on foreign investment than ever. But foreign investment is plummeting. To survive economically, Taiwanese need to do everything possible to make this a friendly investment destination.
But how does Taiwan welcome foreign businessmen? The central government decides to use romanization that foreigners cannot read. When foreign visitors go anyplace outside of Taipei, they cannot understand the street signs or maps. They aren't sure how to address an envelope. Many dare not drive, because they are afraid of getting lost among signs they cannot read.
In contrast to Taiwan, the street signs in Shanghai and Guangzhou are completely standard. In China, foreigners can travel and communicate with ease.
You can bet that foreign investors will vote with their feet. More and more investment will go to China, where foreign investors can read the street signs, maps and addresses. Tongyong is an economic scourge that will drive foreign capital away from Taiwan.
Tongyong conveys a clear message to the world: Taiwan doesn't welcome foreign investors. The spread of Tongyong is an economic disaster. The central government must immediately adopt Hanyu and use it whenever Taiwan's people want to communicate with the outside world.
Allen Yu
Chungho, Taipei County
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