Language divide

There are 4-5 million Hakka in Taiwan, almost 20 per cent of the population. But in an island where the principles of democratic debate are enthusiastically embraced, differences of opinion are rarely far from the surface.

All appeared plain sailing when the Council for Hakka Affairs (CHA) was set up by the government in 2001, with the aim of promoting Hakka dialect and culture. The dialect is of particular concern, as fewer young people are speaking it, and many older Hakka are anxious to see this trend reversed.

But the Hakka TV and radio stations (one of each), plus more than 20 magazines dedicated to Hakka affairs, can be guaranteed to take their own line. Xu Chi-jun, from the Hakka-dialect radio station, was this week typically forceful in his opinions. The Taiwanese language is becoming more dominant by the day and Hakka would like parity with it, he said.

It is an old story. Under the Kuomintang autocracy, which ended in 1987, Hakka-speaking in public was outlawed. Now the lid has been lifted, every Taiwanese who speaks it seems to take a different view of matters.

'Take the issue of the Hakka summer camp,' said Mr Xu. 'Last year, our radio station ran one, with CHA support. This year, they're organising their own, for Hakkas living outside Taiwan, and ours won't be happening. They've invited me to take part as a teacher, but I think the CHA should only play a co-ordinating role. It should be making the pie bigger, not competing for a part of it.'

The Hakka - a unique Chinese ethnic group - are a powerful interest group in Taiwan. They have a reputation for hard work and financial probity, and they dominate an area in the northwest, centred on Hsinchu, capital of the island's formidable science and hi-tech industries. Vice-President Annette Lu Hsiu-lien is half Hakka, and President Chen Shui-bian speaks in Hakka on selected occasions.