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“National Languages Bill” Would Doom the Next Generation

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 “National Languages Bill” Would Doom the Next Generation

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

July 26, 2017

 Translation of an Excerpt

Holding Taiwan independence as its totem, the DPP itself knows that, in the current circumstances, its strength is not adequate to realize "hard Taiwan independence," i.e., de jure independence. Since taking power, the DPP has been upping the ante in promoting “soft Taiwan independence,” that is cultural independence. Erasing, twisting, and diluting are the three main approaches in promoting cultural independence.

For instance, the recent step to erase the Cairo Declaration from high school history textbook guidelines is a typical approach to “erase the history of the Republic of China." For a long time, escalating and distorting the 2-28 Incident has also been successful in rupturing our countrymen’s memories of the KMT government defending Taiwan and making Taiwan prosperous, vilifying the KMT as a vicious ruling party. And now, the Ministry of Culture has been actively pushing for a bill titled "National Languages Development Act." Although it waves the great banner of equality and fostering disadvantaged languages, in fact, it aims to dilute the importance of Mandarin Chinese which has become rooted in daily life. Even ordinary citizens can see the ulterior motive.

Just what are the so-called "national languages" in the eyes of the Ministry of Culture? The wording is not clear enough. If the purpose is to safeguard mother tongues and their development, then we have been doing that all along. What are the actual benefits to name them "national languages"? If the purpose is to elevate the mother tongues of different tribal groups to the status of "official languages," never mind how many teachers have the capacity to speak these kinds of mother tongues, but what can be ascertained is that students who understand them are even rarer. Is using the "mother tongues" to teach mathematics intended to safeguard mother tongues, or to penalize the students? And then using whose "mother tongue" to teach the individual students of "different mother tongues" who sit in the classroom?

Now, for promoting cultural Taiwan independence, the Ministry of Culture, in the name of "national languages development," attempts to dilute Mandarin Chinese. If the situation develops according to this plan, one day, Taiwan's next generation will become young men and women who "don’t speak English well, nor Chinese well." At that time, people would cry and lament, but “with no languages to implore the heavens.”  

 

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