Taiwan Journal hosts a great article on the foreign bride issue here in Taiwan:The language barrier not only affects job opportunities, but also the parental education a foreign spouse can provide. Foreign mothers are usually the main caregivers at home, but communication with their own children can be handicapped by language problems. Usually they do not speak their own languages with their children. "Their environment makes them feel ashamed of their mother tongues, and as a result they feel pressure not to communicate with their children in their own language," says Hsia. A recent survey by King Car Education Foundation indicates that only around 32 percent of children born to foreign mothers can communicate with them in their mothers' native language. Yet the children, surrounded by Taiwanese relations, can often become more fluent speakers of the local language than their mothers, and there are fears, according to Hsia, that this communication gap encourages children to look down on their mothers. Surveys by the MOI and by King Car Education Foundation have, however, shown to be false the popular canard, much disseminated in the media, that children of such mixed marriages lag in learning ability.
And don't miss their article on how the KMT coined the offensive term Chinese Taipei.
Following the switch, the ROC rejected the proposed name "Taiwan, China," arguing that it implied Taiwan was China's subordinate. Furthermore, the ruling Kuomintang government at the time insisted that the ROC was still the only legitimate China, another reason why it would not accept the name "Taiwan." In 1979, the ROC and PRC reached a compromise on the issue, with the help of the IOC. The Executive Committee of the IOC voted for the Nagoya resolution, which said that Taiwan would compete as the "Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee," according to an article in the autumn 1985 issue of Pacific Affairs Journal.
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Although it was the ROC that initially insisted on using "Chinese Taipei," ironically now it is the PRC that enforces this rule. In the past, China might have accepted the name "Taiwan" since it would signify "Taipei's acknowledgement of Beijing's legitimacy as the government of all China," a Jan. 10, 2002 article by the Taiwan-based National Policy Foundation stated.
Just another bad decision to lay at the feet of the KMT.....
[Taiwan]
its my opinion that Taiwan should not compete in any international competetion as "chinese taipei" ever again. its demeaning and i cannot understand why anyone would willingly participate in a voluntary sporting event just to be humiliated.
ReplyDeletei want a shirt that says "taiwanese bejing."
i think people might respect your opinion on "not to use chinese taipei' .Yet i strongly disgree that the term 'humiliated' you deemed for those volunteers. Besides, i think the issue you pointed out is not most participants in such an activity would concern. The most important thing is the reason they volunteer for.
ReplyDeleteIf you sold that shirt, I might buy one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on "Chinese Taipei," I've always wondered where that odd moniker came from.
Michael,
Do you know if either the Taiwanese athletes or the Beijing Olympic Committee are doing anything different for 2008? What I mean is: Are there concerns on either side about any political implications of Taiwanese athletes competing on Chinese soil?
I don't know what's going on with that. Should be interesting! Maybe I'll look that up.
ReplyDeleteMichael
I always wonder why Taiwanese athletes don't take matter into their own hands. For example, why don't they use masking tape and cover up the "Chinese" part of Chinese Taipei. At worst, they may be asked to remove it during the game/race but the point would be made. Similarly, why do the baseball team always wear ugly uniforms with "Chinese Taipei" printed in giant bold letters? If you can't change your team name, there is no reason to advertise it. For example, Australian athletes and teams are simply identified by the green-yellow uniforms they wear (ditto Kiwis and their all black uniforms, or Canadians with their maple leaf motif). I guess what I'm trying to say is why doesn't the Taiwanese themselves think outside the box more?
ReplyDelete