The Control Yuan yesterday chastised the Executive Yuan over the increased use of “Taiwan” to refer to the Republic of China (ROC) and “China” to refer to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in government publications.
Control Yuan member Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光) initiated the corrective measure, which was adopted by the Committee on Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs.
“The incorrect use of designations for our country and for mainland China not only deviates from [the government’s] policy of ‘one China, with each side having its own interpretation,’ but also confuses the public’s perception of national identity,” Ger said.
Citing Articles 1 and 35 of the ROC Constitution, Article 11 of the Amendment of the ROC Constitution and several provisions under the guidelines to address enterprises, academic institutions and groups affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), government and military, as well as personnel working at the organizations and their flags and songs (中共黨政軍機關企業學術機構團體旗歌及人員職銜統一稱謂實施要點), Ger said the Executive Yuan was failing to observe the rules.
Regardless of which country government publications are issued in and who their target audiences are, whenever the nation’s name is mentioned in any such publications, the “ROC” should be used, not “Taiwan,” Ger said.
The PRC should be referred to as either “mainland China” or the “Chinese Communist Party” in government publications, he added.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said that the Executive Yuan will request that all government agencies conduct a review of their publications and make the necessary corrections.
The Executive Yuan is required by Article 25 of the Control Act (監察法) to reply to the Control Yuan within two months on what measures it will take to address the problem.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said the censure was another example of the President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration’s “systematic” attempts to “de-Taiwanize,” following proposed changes in high-school history textbooks.
With the censure, government agencies have no reason not to use the name “ROC” more often than “Taiwan” in their references to the country, and the purpose is to make “Taiwan” a “geographic name, not a national symbol,” Chiu said.
Chiu said the Control Yuan has become an “accomplice” to Ma’s scheme to steer the nation toward “eventual unification” with China.
“What is the point of referring to the PRC as either ‘mainland China’ or the ‘Chinese Communist Party’ when it is widely known as ‘China’ in the international community? It serves no purpose but to console the administration,” DPP Legislator Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said.
The public expect the Control Yuan to punish public servants who neglect their duty or violate the law, but it often just closes the cases, leaving the officials unscathed, Lee said, citing the investigations into Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming’s (黃世銘) and Keelung Mayor Chang Tong-rong’s (張通榮) actions.
As the time for Ma to nominate candidates for the Control Yuan’s next term approaches, Control Yuan members raised the designation issue and the case of defector Justin Lin (林毅夫) to make it clear to the president that they firmly stand behind his political agenda and increase their chances of being nominated again, Lee said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) praised the censure measure, saying “Taiwan” is just a nickname.
“I am called A-lung at home or by my friends, but I use Tsai Chin-lung in all official documents,” he said.
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