The title of the national history textbook for second-grade high-school students to be used in the new semester after the winter vacation has been changed to “China History” from the traditional “National History.”

In this new textbook, terms like “our country,” “this country” and “the mainland” have all been changed to “China” to indicate Taiwan is separate from and not part of China.

Founding Father Sun Yat-sen of the Republic of China also loses the venerable title as the founder of the nation.

The 1911 Wuhan Uprising that toppled the imperial Ching (Manchu) Dynasty will now be called a “chishi” (disturbance or riot) instead of “chiyi” (righteous uprising) as it was referred to in history textbooks used in the past 60 years here.

All these and other changes were made in accordance with the guidelines of a reviewing board whose members were appointed by Education Minister Tu Cheng-sheng.

Opposition lawmakers demanded Minister Tu resign over what they considered inappropriate changes to the history text. Otherwise, they said, Premier Su Tseng-chang should whip the controversial Cabinet minister in line.

They said if Tu does not want to call Sun the nation’s founding father, he should formally declare independence-leaning former President Lee Teng-hui or incumbent President Chen Shui-bian the “founder of Taiwan” — if he really has the guts to do so.

Lashing out at Tu, they said he cannot even teach his own child well, but only strives to change or destroy the history of the ROC when he dares not formally push for Taiwan independence.

They also lambasted the attempt to twist historical facts by branding the Japanese occupation and colonization of Taiwan during the five decades ended in 1945 as “the Japanese administration period.”

Wu Chan-liang, director of the National Taiwan University’s History Department, noted in an interview with Chinese-language daily China Times there was strong political intervention from the government, alleging only one voice was allowed.

The compilation of the history textbook was controlled by the state machine, he said.

Lan Shun-teh, director general of the National Institute of Compilation and Translation under the Ministry of Education, denied any political pressure.

He said there were some phrases that have been found objectionable in earlier editions of the history book and the ministry wanted to make them neutral to enable students to think more independently and draw their own conclusions.

Lan also stressed that the changes were approved by all scholars on the reviewing board.

When asked when Sun was stripped of the “founding father” title, Lan explained that he did not know the details because he was not on the text screening board.

Analysts said the new history book represents another “desinization” measures taken by President Chen to remove the word “China” from the names of public places and enterprises.

Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of the opposition Kuomintang which was formed by Sun, expressed concern over the further erosion of the long and commonly held values in Taiwan society.

He said through his spokesman that he was worried that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party does not only want to separate Taiwan from China but also from the Republic of China.

This will only create more confusion for the future generations of people living in Taiwan.

Taiwan citizens and political groups remain divided on the island’s identity and status, with some advocating for an independent nation from China and others pushing for its reunification with China once it embraces democracy, although most people want to maintain the status quo for now.

The textbook changes could spark another strong reaction from Beijing, which has viewed self-ruled Taiwan as sovereign territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in mainland China in 1949 and has vowed to bring the island back under mainland rule, by force if necessary.

Many in Taiwan feared that the history textbook could come under another revision in case the DPP becomes the opposition party, creating more confusion for students.

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