The president also addressed one project aimed at realizing the ROC’s diplomatic goals by promoting the Chinese language. He said that Chinese language teachers from the ROC teach orthodox Chinese characters, while teachers from mainland China use simplified characters. Over the course of two waves of reform of Chinese characters, mainland China has simplified about 2,200 characters, about a quarter or one-third of the 6,000 to 8,000 most commonly used characters. Among the simplified characters, less than 500 have been changed completely. Consequently, there are very few people who have studied orthodox characters but can’t recognize simplified characters. In addition, MOFA has established a variety of scholarships for foreign students to come to Taiwan to study Chinese. The textbooks for overseas compatriots are printed in orthodox characters, but also include notes indicating their simplified forms, thus facilitating learning. The president pointed out that over 1.3 billion people throughout the world use the simplified characters developed in mainland China, while less than 40 million people use orthodox characters, with over half of those people in Taiwan. In light of this situation, how to promote the teaching of orthodox characters has become an important issue.
President Ma noted that in 2012, the General Association of Chinese Culture compiled the Cross-Strait Common Vocabulary Dictionary, which provides a comparison of orthodox and simplified characters, along with a comparison of commonly used vocabulary as a reference . The president feels that the best way to resolve the dispute between the two types of characters is to use them together, side by side. Taiwan is where orthodox characters are most frequently used, and there is no reason to switch to using simplified characters just for mainland Chinese tourists. Doing so would also deprive mainlanders of an opportunity to come to understand orthodox characters, said the president.
【Source: Office of the President】