Taiwan's Story
Having built up its infrastructure in the English language for the last two or three decades, Taiwanese society is accustomed to using English widely, with most international conferences in Taiwan being held in English. The top echelons of Taiwan's government and private sectors have been spearheading the use of the English language throughout the country. It is observed that no businessman, bureaucrat or politician can be considered top-notch if they cannot make speeches or hold interviews in English.
More than 80% of cabinet ministers in the government were reported to have earned their doctorates in the United States. In an interview with Lui Lee-chung, a high-ranking foreign ministry official, he insisted the interview be held in English, saying that interpretation is a waste of time. Throughout an hour-long conversation using fluent and emotionally inflected English, he stated that English is a tool and has nothing to do with nationalism or nationalist pride. He also underscores the point that the governing language of the world is not Chinese but English.
The foreign minister of Taiwan himself writes his letters and speeches in English using no interpreter or translator. Another official at the ruling party who graduated from the University of Chicago and served as a professor for ten years in the U.S., said the world has become a global village and with the English language becoming a singular communication tool with anyone on the globe, English is, in this sense, no longer a foreign language.
(Seo Gyo, gyoseo@chosun.com)
