Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Herman Shuai (帥化民) yesterday took aim at President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) idea to use the name “Taiwan Academy” for the proposed culture institutes to be established overseas, proposing that the name Zhonghua, or “Chinese,” be used instead.
During a question-and-answer session with Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) in the legislature, Shuai said the government should either replace the name “Taiwan Academy” with “Chinese Academy” or remove elements of Chinese culture from the academy’s mandate.
Shuai said he failed to see why the country chose not to vie for an orthodox position in spreading Chinese culture when China has established its Confucius Institutes around the world.
Photo: CNA
Chinese culture was devastated in China during the Cultural Revolution when Confucianism came under attack and the Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) was honored, but now the Chinese government had regained the power to speak for Chinese culture, Shuai said.
Chinese culture was brought to Taiwan by former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), the lawmaker said.
“We have the strength to spread Chinese culture, but we are opening ‘Taiwan Academies.’ Why are we being so coy?” Shuai asked.
Setting up Taiwan Academies was one of Ma’s campaign promises as part of his efforts to secure the nation’s role in spreading what he called “Taiwanese culture with Chinese characteristics” and pushing the use of traditional Chinese characters, as opposed to the simplified characters used in China.
The first Taiwan Academy is scheduled to open on Friday in New York, where an inauguration ceremony will be held at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.
Wu said using the name “Taiwan Academies” was meant to emphasize their origins.
“If we named them ‘Zhonghua Academies,’ would foreigners understand what it stands for? Are you saying we need to add ‘Chinese Taipei’ or ‘Chinese Taiwan?’” Wu asked.
For example, major league pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民), fashion designer Jason Wu (吳季剛) and Taitung vegetable vendor-philanthropist Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊), who was named one of the most influential people by Time magazine last year, were “proud of Taiwan,” not “proud of Zhonghua” because that was unknown to foreigners, Wu said.
Two branches of the Taiwan Academy will also be opened in Los Angeles and Houston on Friday.
Also during the session, KMT Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) asked Wu to share his views on former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s (李光耀) recent remarks that no country would support Taiwanese independence, that unification between Taiwan and China was just a matter of time and that it could happen in 10, 20 or 30 years.
Wu said he respected Lee’s views, but disagreed with him on the estimated time frame for unification.
“The time frame is too short. It could be 50, 80 or 100 years, as long as Taiwan does well. Other than economic reform, China needs to work toward political reform, human rights, democracy and rule of law,” Wu said.
“There are various possibilities for future cross-strait developments, but the government is maintaining the ‘status quo’ of the Republic of China, which is ‘no unification, no independence and no use of force,’” Wu added.
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