A recent controversy has erupted in Taiwan over President Ma Ying Jeou's suggestion that Taiwanese should learn to write simplified characters. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Chinese characters, there are essential two kinds; Traditional and Simplified. Traditional characters are the ones that Westerners would be most familiar with. Simplified characters were invented by the Chinese Communists as an attempt to improve literacy. While the characters are still complex, they are much more "simple" than the traditional characters. A good example would be the character for "horse".
Traditional: 馬 Simplified: 马
As you can see, the traditional character is much more complex.
Getting back to the matter at hand, Taiwan's President has suggested that it would be a good thing for cross strait relations and exchanges if Taiwanese were to learn to read and write using simplified characters. He also is on the record saying it would help if Chinese were to learn traditional characters as well.
The reaction by the Taiwanese independence camp has been predictable. They are up in arms over the President's "trashing the nation's cultural integrity", to quote a DPP spokesman.
I can't help but see the parallels between President Ma's suggestion, and Barack Obama's suggestion during his campaign that it would be a good idea for Americans to learn Spanish.
Reactionary elements are everywhere, in every society. We should all try to look objectively at issues like this, before jumping up and down and calling names.
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