Taipei and Beijing are set to take bilateral exchanges one step further from economic cooperation to the cultural sphere after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that the two sides plan to launch an online Chinese dictionary next year to facilitate cultural exchanges.
Ma said the National Cultural Association was planning to take advantage of cloud computing technology to introduce an electronic “cross-strait dictionary.” The dictionary should be online next year, he said, and the publishing industry would be welcome to publish a hard-copy version.
The two sides of the Taiwan Strait use different Chinese characters and use different words to describe the same thing, he said.
“It would be hard to make the two sides use the same words and it is not necessary to do so,” Ma said at a Presidential Office meeting with individuals and groups who have excelled at promoting classical learning. “However, it will change gradually as we use words mainlanders use and they use words we use. They will influence each other.”
If there was a dictionary that could juxtapose the two systems, people on both sides would become familiar with the usage of words on the other side, making cultural exchanges more meaningful, he said.
Ma said he was not against Chinese using simplified characters, but he would like to see them also understand traditional characters. Ma said Taiwanese should continue to use the traditional script.
“There are only 23 million people in Taiwan, but it is an important place for the preservation of traditional Chinese writing and the promotion of Chinese culture,” he said.
There are about 40 million people using traditional Chinese characters, Ma said, with 7.6 million in Hong Kong and 33 million in Taiwan and elsewhere. China was also mulling the reintroduction of the traditional script, he said.
In 2007, Taiwan produced more than 45,000 publications, while China produced 135,000, despite having a population 57 times that of Taiwan, Ma said.
Ma said he would like to see more Taiwanese academies established abroad to promote traditional characters and Taiwan’s “specific culture,” which he described as “Chinese culture, with Taiwanese features.”
He also wants to see Confucius’ (孔子) teachings become more prevalent and the names of famous educators enshrined in Confucius temples.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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