Taiwanese here to stay
In a recent opinion piece in the Taipei Times, National Taiwan University professor Chen Tsui-lien (陳翠蓮) asked: “As the masters of a democracy, should Taiwanese continue to tolerate this bullying and domineering attitude?” (“Party-state haunts history revisions,” Feb. 7, page 8).
Chen was referring to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration and its followers’ efforts to interpret, revise and dictate how Taiwanese history is depicted in high-school textbooks. The answer to Chen’s question is, of course, no. Taiwanese, as the people and masters of this nation, will say no to and refuse to tolerate this kind of abuse of power by the Ma administration and its backers.
As Chen wrote in the article, history “defines who we are, where we come from, where we are and where we are headed.”
The people of this nation are Taiwanese and though some of their ancestors came from China, they have been in Taiwan for a long time. Taiwanese are in Taiwan and are here to stay; they are not going anywhere. Taiwanese are Taiwanese and their nation has its own history, culture and traditions.
The information made available through printed and electronic media has revealed the lies, distortions and false statements told by the government and Chinese academics. Taiwanese are more knowledgeable now than ever before and those Chinese seem to be underestimating them this time around.
China is a big country, yet most of it is not developed and the majority of its people are uneducated, uncivilized and inconsiderate, while its culture is mostly superficial, fake and pretentious. The 5,000 years of China’s history are unimpressive and its culture is not as splendid and glorious as Chinese say it is.
The Ma administration and its followers are mostly refugees from China driven out by the fighting with the communists in the 1940s, or they are the children of those refugees. Now that relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has improved and travel restrictions lifted, these people can move back to China if they want to. If they choose to stay in Taiwan, they must have a reason for it. They should be thankful for being able to live in Taiwan, which is free, democratic and respectful of human rights.
Taiwanese will not take any more abuse of power from the Ma administration and its supporters — those Chinese need to know that and they need to stop doing what they are doing.
Ken S. Huang
Murrieta, California
Plaza naming is shaming
The naming of a plaza at National Cheng Kung University made headlines after students voted for the name “Nan-jung Square” (South Banyan Square, 南榕廣場) to commemorate democracy activist Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), but the university’s School Affairs Committee decided to dismiss the poll results.
The incident at the Greater Tainan school has sparked public concern and media criticism.
In an article titled “My alma mater has forgotten its glory,” Tsai Chen-chiang (蔡澄江) said that the plaza name was selected through a democratic process devoid of any political overtones.
However, some self-designated “wise” individuals expanded or factored in their personal views to this process and forcefully associated it with politics. Unfortunately, this resulted in the university ruling out the winning name. This incident touched me deeply.
Although history professor Wang Wen-hsia (王文霞) formally apologized for remarks she made about Deng to support the overruling of the vote, there has not been any official response or action from the school so far.
This case brings to mind Japanese economist and educator Tadao Yanaihara, who said: “Learned knowledge cannot be distorted from the truth.”
Before World War II, Yanaihara strongly advocated that “justice” should be the basic nature and eternal goal of a country. This idealism put him at odds with those who believe in militarism and he was forced to leave his teaching post at the University of Tokyo in December 1937.
However, after the war ended in March 1946, Yanaihara was welcomed back to the university to resume his faculty position and even served as its president for two terms.
I consider Yanaihara a true academic, as he attached great importance to learning the truth. He also fought for academics’ freedom and independence, while opposing political control of academic institutions and those who sell their souls to be royal academics.
In Yanaihara’s spirit, I encourage those National Cheng Kung University professors who supported Wang’s stance to stand up and bravely admit their mistakes.
No matter what the committee decides, the results of the students’ democratic vote should be protected. It would be terrible to see the school housing a plaza that stands for intolerance to truth and justice.
Yang Liu Hsiu-hwa
Taipei
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