A demand by Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) speak Mandarin during a public hearing at the Legislative Yuan has been condemned by linguists and pan-green camp politicians.
Experts, academics and politicians had been invited to take part in a hearing on Thursday regarding the opposition’s proposed motion to impeach President William Lai (賴清德), to present their viewpoints and deliberate on the issue
During Wang’s turn, he spoke Hoklo, commonly known as Taiwanese. Chang then interrupted him, saying: “Please speak Guoyu [國語, Mandarin].”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Surprised, Wang paused for a few seconds before asking the session’s chairman what that meant.
“I have the right to use the language of my choosing. If you cannot understand what I said, you can use a translator,” Wang told Chang in Hoklo.
Videos of the incident circulated on social media, sparking discussions.
Photo: Screen grab from the Legislative Yuan’s livestream
Most people online castigated Chang, saying that he continues to live in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authoritarian era, when only Mandarin could be used in the government, media and public sectors.
Chang was discriminating against Hoklo speakers and does not know that under the law, it is now one of Taiwan’s national languages, some people said.
Chang ran an unsuccessful bid for the KMT chair election in October last year.
DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said that under the Development of National Languages Act (國家語言發展法), all of Taiwan’s national languages are equal and protected by the law, and “shall not be discriminated against or face restrictions.”
These include Mandarin, Hoklo, Hakka and languages spoken by indigenous people, he said.
Taiwanese Language Policy Promotion Alliance convener Hsu Hui-ying (許慧盈) said it is Wang’s legal right to use Hoklo, one of Taiwan’s national languages, inside the Legislative Yuan, adding that it was improper of Chang to stop someone from speaking their mother tongue.
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