Several scholars from China voiced support Monday for an idea broached by President Ma Ying-jeou last year that it would be better for Chinese speakers to know traditional characters in general but to write them in simplified form. Scholars in Taiwan and China have long argued over the merits of the two writing systems. Traditional characters are prevalent in Taiwan and Hong Kong, while simplified characters are used in China and Singapore. At a seminar at Shih Chien University in Taipei on the modernization of China, Zheng Liang, director of the Chinese Language and Literature program at Xiamen University, said simplified characters have historical roots, as about 70 percent of them appeared in ancient Chinese books. He also argued that traditional characters have not remained intact, changing periodically to simpler forms. Zheng Lianghe, deputy director of the Chinese Language and Literatures Department at North China University of Technology, said many Chinese schools have actually asked students to gain familiarity with traditional characters even though only simplified characters are officially taught and written. In fact, he said, traditional and simplified characters co-exist in today's China since most Chinese academic institutions involved in researching history and ancient books are adopting traditional characters. 'The Chinese academic world is generally in support of Ma's call for 'recognizing traditional and writing simplified characters, '' he said, referring to a comment Ma made in June 2009 during a meeting with American- Chinese representatives. Honorary professor Fu Hsi-jen of Taiwan's Tamkang University, said Chinese characters have undergone 'reforms' since ancient times, with simplification more frequently adopted than 'complication.' In China, he said, government authorities have dominated national cultural policies, in contrast to Taiwan where scholars generally playing the leading role in cultural development. China therefore sees characters as a 'tool, ' emphasizing the principle of convenient usage, Fu argued, while Taiwan insists on the 'cultural significance' of characters. The scholar acknowledged it will be impossible for either Taiwan or China to convince the other to change its stand on Chinese characters. But he suggested traditional characters be taught first followed by their simplified version, because it will be easier for students to recognize simplified words after learning traditional characters than vice versa. Fu also called on Taiwanese schools to teach students to recognize simplified characters and allow people to write freely using both forms of characters. 