According to Chinese-language media reports, the UN will abandon its policy of using both simplified and full-form Chinese characters in 2008, when it will start using only China's simplified system. This move is tantamount to changing the "cultural status quo," making Taiwan the last independent repository (unlike Hong Kong) of traditional Chinese script.
China's simplified system was invented after Mao Zedong's (
China's economic development has expanded the influence of culture and other "soft powers," thereby sparking a global interest in Chinese culture. China has taken advantage of these developments to set up "Confucian academies" (
The traditional Chinese script is a writing system that has evolved over thousands of years. Not only is the traditional system freely adaptable to changing conditions, but it is also an art form through which calligraphic styles can be presented in an artistic fashion. The simplified Chinese writing system is by no means as artistic. And even if the UN abandons full-form characters in favor of the simplified system, the use of traditional script will remain orthodox in Chinese calligraphy.
The Chinese Communist Party has in recent years turned away from the excesses of the Cultural Revolution by once again revering Confucius and establishing Confucian academies around the world. Publications relating to Confucius, Mencius (
A common language and writing system is a prerequisite for territorial and ethnic integration. The strongest foundation for cross-strait exchanges is that both sides once used the same writing system. Be it pressure from Beijing or UN efforts to cut down on costs by using only simplified Chinese characters, the move to eradicate full-form characters reeks of politics and seeks to restrict the continued evolution of Chinese script. By doing so, it will leave each side of the Taiwan Strait with its own writing system, further contributing to their division. This might turn out to be a good thing for Taiwan.
Full-form characters may appear to be at a disadvantage, as the nation and its traditional script become even more isolated. But from another perspective, they allow Taiwan to lay ironic claim to greater cultural independence.
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