The great debate: traditional vs simplified

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou has proposed that Taiwan adopt the simplified character set used on the Chinese mainland.

"We hope the two sides can reach a consensus on (learning to) read standard characters while writing in the simplified ones," he said in a statement on July 8.

Ma's suggestion was discussed at the Cross-Straits Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum last weekend in Changsha, capital of Hunan province. Ma also proposed that scholars from across the Straits should compile a dictionary with both simplified and traditional Chinese characters.