Academics and legal experts yesterday asked the Control Yuan to investigate alleged breaches of the National Languages Development Act (國家語言發展法) at National Taiwan University (NTU), after two professors instituted a rule that school meetings must be conducted in Mandarin only.
The issue had been raised repeatedly and complaints had been filed against biology professor Shih Hsiu-hui (施秀惠) and agricultural economics professor Jerome Geaun, but NTU governing officials did not take corrective measures, Taiwan Association of University Professors (TAUP) deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said.
“The two NTU professors ruled to ban the speaking of Hoklo [commonly known as Taiwanese] and all other mother tongues, and use Mandarin exclusively at meetings. It is illegal... They are bullying people who speak other mother tongues and denying them their rights,” Chen said at yesterday’s media briefing.
Photo: CNA
Attorney Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎), who is chairman of the Taiwan Forever Society, asked the Control Yuan to investigate the matter, which could lead to the impeachment of NTU officials if they were to be found to have breached the act.
NTU receives government funding, so its budget as paid for by taxpayers, Huang said.
“Therefore NTU, as a public-supported institution, must adhere to the law, and the Control Yuan has the authority to … investigate officials in the nation’s education system.”
The incident in question took place at an NTU Cooperative Shop board meeting on July 30, when student representative Sun Phok-ju (孫博萮) spoke in Hoklo, but was ordered to stop by Shih, the chairwoman, who said that Geaun had proposed a motion for the meeting to be conducted in Mandarin only.
Geaun was at the June 30 meeting and justified his motion by comparing speaking Hoklo to smoking cigarettes.
“You have the liberty to smoke, but you cannot infringe on other people’s liberty,” which is why there are non-smoking areas, he said.
At an earlier meeting, Shih had demanded that people only use the “official language” and said that people using any other language would not be allowed to speak and would not be recorded in the meeting’s minutes, Sun said on Aug. 15.
“I talked about our rights to speak our mother tongue, and mentioned the National Languages Development Act, but it was no use. Shih would not allow us, even though we had people at the meeting who were willing to act as translators,” Sun said. “When I tried to explain, Shih told me to shut up, and said I had no right to speak at the meeting.”
NTU Taigi Bun Sia, a student club that promotes the use of Hoklo, together with seven other school clubs and organizations earlier this month issued a joint statement to protest the two professors’ alleged actions.
The statement called on school officials to invalidate the proposed motion, and demanded that the professors make a public apology.
So far, NTU has not taken corrective measures, only issuing a statement to remind people of the need to respect all languages, Chen said.
The school is trying to sweep the matter under the rug by shielding the two professors and claiming that NTU can deal the issue on its own, he said.
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
Four Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the world's top 200 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for next year, the highest Taiwan has ever placed in the category, with National Taiwan University (NTU) achieving its best performance at 54th globally and 17th in Asia. The four Taiwanese institutions in the global top 200 are NTU (54th), National Tsing Hua University (142nd), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (177th) and National Cheng Kung University (191st), the rankings showed. All four universities achieved their highest-ever global rankings this year, QS data showed. National Cheng Kung University entered the top 200 for
Tropical Storm Mekkhala is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon tomorrow and could come close enough to Taiwan later in the week to prompt a sea warning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2 pm, the storm was located 1,870 kilometers southeast of Taiwan's southern tip and moving west- northwest at 23 km per hour. CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said Mekkhala is expected to continue moving west-northwest through Tuesday under the influence of the Pacific high- pressure system before gradually turning north toward waters east of Taiwan or south of the Ryukyu Islands. The timing and angle of the
RSS