HkCaGu

So LAX TBIT inaugurated 40 APCs and they called the press with Mayor Garcetti hosting the news people. So the news report says eligibility is US, Canadian and any ESTA passport. And a bunch of languages to choose from.

So on the local Chinese news they showed the Chinese choice button (only one named 中文, no character set specified) and a Chinese screenshot.

I see simplified characters. The only relevant ESTA passport is ROC (Taiwan). They use traditional characters. Any US citizen needing Chinese language processing most likely can read traditional Chinese after being in the US for years. Simplified Chinese significantly decreases readability for many traditional Chinese readers. Taiwanese tourists are skyrocketing post VWP. The PRC is not getting into the VWP any time soon. So why does the APC use simplified Chinese?

GUWonder

Lots of naturalized US and Canadian citizens are native Chinese speakers, many of which -- older generation more so -- aren't fluent or even literate in English but are fluent and literate in Chinese. The kind of passengers who needed others to fill in their customs declaration forms for them in the era prior to APC kiosks.

HkCaGu

I'm not asking about any language. I'm asking why Simplified Chinese. Singaporean (VWP) and Malaysian (not) Simplified Chinese users will be much more proficient in English. Mainland Chinese immigrants are either students/scholars turned PR turned citizens who are fluent in reading English, or those who aren't learning English so who aren't getting naturalized to use the APC or grannies who don't need English ability to get naturalized, but are old enough to have lived in the ROC era or early PRC years to read Traditional Chinese anyway or they're simply not the generation to try automated anything.

In contrast, Chinese-speaking, non English fluent APC users will be overwhelmingly Taiwanese. (HK and Macau aren't VWP yet.) They can read but will too often stumble on Simplified Chinese characters.

GUWonder

Quite clearly you didn't get the point or I made it poorly. The APC kiosks were initiated for US and Canadian citizens and it allowed for simplified Chinese for US and Canadian citizens who want to use the language when going through the APC kiosks.

VWP users were only more recently allowed to use APC kiosks.

Being or becoming a US citizen doesn't require English fluency.

relangford

I have also noted that, more and more, the Chinese characters here in Korea are tending more to the Simplified Chinese. I suspect it may have to do with the rising importance of Mainland China viz-a-viz Taiwan here. For years, speakers of different dialects have been able to communicate using characters, will we reach the point where Chinese from the Mainland and from Taiwan won't be able to easily read Chinese? I am not of Chinese descent, but took Chinese in college; I really prefer (in most cases) the Traditional Chinese characters because they convey more of the history and culture. For just one example, the "jade in a box" for "quo" (country) - sorry, don't have a Chinese letter set - rather than the stylized map of the Traditional character means something has been lost (BTW, Korea is now using the new character for "country" in the newspapers, but has kept the Traditional in logos and symbols of the nation).

FLLDL

I seem to recall that the APC machines offer both Simp and Trad.

Taipei

Most (way over half) current US citizens/residents who are of Chinese background use traditional text (visit Chinese shops, areas in USA you will see traditional text way more in use), so if its designed for Chinese-Americans the preferred text if only one choice is offered would make sense to be traditional text, but I think it may offer two.

This may change over time, as more Mainland Chinese than Taiwanese/HK move to the states, but as of now traditional text is much in use the states.

GUWonder

Yes, but a higher proportion of Mainland Chinese in the US seem to struggle with English than ROC or HK Chinese in the US

Mainland Chinese are bigger residential real estate buyers in the US and now way more lucrative buyers of US residential property (in the aggregate at least) than HK or ROC buyers of residential US property.