Despite mayor-elect Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) decision earlier this week that the English name of the upgraded Taipei County would be “New Taipei City” (新北市), the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday said the translation of the new special municipality’s name was still subject to its final approval.
“According to the Standardized Place Name Translation Act (標準地名譯寫準則), place names should be phonetically translated,” Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) told a news conference at the ministry yesterday. “Hence, phonetic translations of place names could automatically take effect, but literal translations, such as ‘New Taipei City,’ should be submitted to the ministry for review and approval.”
FINAL SAY
It’s the ministry that has the final say on whether the city’s name can be officially translated as “New Taipei City,” Chien said.
Before Chu’s announcement on Monday, there was a debate on whether the new special municipality’s English name should be translated phonetically as “Sinbei City,” or literally as “New Taipei City.”
According to Chien, while Article 2 of the law stipulates that place names should be translated phonetically, “Article 4 of the same law says that exceptions can be made upon approval of the MOI, based on the reason of history, language, customs or religion.”
APPLICATION
“We have to wait until we see the application to decide whether the city’s name can be translated as ‘New Taipei City,’” he said.
Four new special municipalities will come into being tomorrow with the upgrading of Taipei County and the mergers of Kaohsiung City with Kaohsiung County, Taichung City with Taichung County and Tainan City with Tainan County.
Following the upgrade and mergers, cities and townships in these new special municipalities will become districts. For example, places such as Sinjhuang City (新莊), Banciao City (板橋) or Tamsui Township (淡水) will then be called Sinjhuang, Banciao, and Tamsui districts.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
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