President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended the cultural significance of traditional Chinese characters in a calligraphy activity, saying that there are no political implications behind the promotion of these characters.
Ma joined Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and calligraphy masters to write down Chinese characters by creating calligraphy to welcome the new year, while insisting that the government would not promote simplified Chinese characters because of the increasing number of Chinese tourists.
“Traditional Chinese characters carry both cultural significance and artistic values and promoting these characters has nothing to do with any political stance. It’s very important for us not to sacrifice the characters for tourism,” he said during the ceremony at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Ma, who helped establish the festival nine years ago during his term as Taipei mayor, said even though the number of Chinese tourists in Taiwan has reached about 3 million a year, they should have no problem reading traditional Chinese characters.
The Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs also invited more than 100 calligraphy masters, as well as 20 foreign students and immigrants from countries including the US, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India, to write down their new year wishes using Chinese calligraphy.
Fifteen-year-old Neha Purswaney from India wrote the Chinese character for love (愛) on a piece of red paper. A student at Taipei American School, Purswaney said she is interested in traditional Chinese characters because they are special and beautiful.
“[I wrote down the character for love] because Taiwan is a country filled with love, and I hope that Taiwan will continue to be a loving country,” she said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS