Although Taiwan and Mainland China have spent the last fifty years developing in isolation from each other the similarities between Taiwan and Mainland China continue to outweigh the differences. In spite of the fact that our political and economic systems; our living and social conditions; and even our written and spoken Chinese differ; people in Taiwan and Mainland China will forever be linked by our common heritage, historical origins, and shared ancestry. As a result Taiwan and Mainland China will always remain inextricably intertwined.

    The differences in our formal written and spoken Chinese characters make it easy for many misunderstandings to occur between exchanges across the strait separating China from Taiwan. The fact that Taiwan continues to use traditional characters while mainland China uses simplified characters exacerbates the problem. Beginners to the Chinese language are never sure which system of characters they ought to study. Much time is spent repeating lessons in order to able to effectively communicate in both places. This confusion means a lot of time and energy is wasted for both Chinese and non-Chinese people alike.

    Since the divergence of our histories, our language has received different influences and as a result our every day speech, our tones, and the use of Chinese differs greatly on each side of the strait. A more serious concern is that even our translations of new scientific and medical terms vary and that we also use different characters to translate names of important foreign locations and people.

    Such differences create a great barrier indeed. Especially during academic or cultural exchanges. Certainly if our goal is to achieve a peaceful reunification of Taiwan and mainland China we must resolve these basic important language problems first.