Gov’t plans to rewrite history texts, dropping China focus

The Kuomintang, the island’s main opposition party, yesterday condemned the move, saying it was part of a push for formal Taiwan independence, while high school teachers were also critical.

Under new guidelines to be implemented in the 2006 school year, the Ministry of Education ordered high schools to revise their textbooks to create a separate book for Taiwan history, which is currently included under Chinese history.

Taiwan history currently accounts for only 21 percent of the textbooks, but under the new plan, one third of the history texts will be about Taiwan, with the remaining two thirds Chinese and world history.

The aim was to help students “understand their cultural roots and foster self-identity,” said the ministry in a statement on its Web site.

KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung said the move would spark further tension with China.

“They are undertaking the path of Taiwan independence through education,” said Chang. “We believe this is dangerous to cross-strait ties,” he said.

In another controversial move for the new textbooks, the education ministry proposed the founding of the Republic of China by Sun Yat-sen in 1912 to be put under Chinese history instead of Taiwan history.

The Republic of China, first created by a Chinese revolution overthrowing the Ching dynasty in 1911, was relocated to the island in 1949 by KMT forces fleeing Mao’s communists in China.

Please see HISTORY on page

Currently the island is still called “The Republic of China” or ROC, a legacy of around half a century of KMT rule and a description Beijing finds more acceptable than Taiwan as the name keeps its links with China.

Please see HISTORY on page

“If we get rid of the Republic of China and declare Taiwan independence, it will bring disaster to Taiwan,” Chang said.

Education Minister Tu Cheng-sheng, a historian, dismissed the opposition party’s criticism, saying the revisions were based on historical facts, not political ideology.

“I hope people do not use ideology to over-interpret the guidelines,” Tu told reporters.

“The new textbook simply aims to provide students a whole picture of history,” added ruling Democratic Progressive Party whip legislator Tsai Huang-lang.

The new Taiwan history texts will also focus on Taiwanese heroes, human rights abuses in the days of martial law under the KMT and the 2-28 massacre of local Taiwanese by KMT forces in 1947.

High school teachers criticized the move.

Chairman of the Taipei High School Principals Association Yu Lin said he personally thought the move would confuse students and make it impossible for teachers to mark history papers as students graduating at different times would give different answers in exams.

He joked the nation’s students would become “schizophrenics” and said the ministry should be thinking of the long-term consequences of the move.

Even radical education associations were critical.

General Secretary of the Taipei Teacher’s Association Luo Te-shui said his association was all for education reform but the DPP was just as bad as the KMT in presenting fixed views of history in textbooks. The only difference was it had substituted Taiwan for China, he said.

Luo said he also thought the textbooks painted China as an enemy and did account for ties with China that were growing closer daily.

The revised curriculum, which covers Taiwan’s long march to democracy from ancient history, also left open the question of whether Japan was ordered to return the island to China and whether the ROC legally took over Taiwan after World War Two by listing various contradictory historical documents.

The issue sparked a row between Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou and Cabinet ministers yesterday.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email