A nation’s mother tongue education includes language as well as literature. When educating people, an advanced program is one that lets students first read works by native authors and then read works by foreign authors, so that learners get both a domestic and an international outlook.
Is the Republic of China (ROC) a Taiwanese nation or a Chinese nation? Is the mother nation Taiwan or China? Deep in people’s hearts, it is crystal clear to most that the nation is Taiwanese, but the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which has not changed its mentality as a colonial ruler, does not think so.
By making adjustments to the social-studies curriculum guidelines, Chinese elements are once again being reinforced, while Taiwanese elements are being de-emphasized. The KMT’s occupation and rule over Taiwan through the empty shell of the exiled ROC is being praised, while wrongdoings are deliberately overlooked in a renewed attempt at brainwashing, which is aimed at nurturing a new generation of KMT followers.
It is a malevolent, reactionary attitude.
Literature and language education is controlled by the colonial attitudes of the KMT — which does not separate itself as a political party from the nation that it was elected to govern — with the objective of cultivating a conservative China-centered mindset based on the KMT’s values and its governance ideology.
The study of traditional Chinese literature is secondary, and the major purpose is political indoctrination. This becomes a thought framework that is not intended to enlighten, but used to embellish colloquial modern Chinese literature, focusing mostly on works by pro-KMT or pro-China authors, while suppressing Taiwanese literature and the nation’s spirit.
The curriculum set out to teach Taiwan’s mother tongue is not advanced and it does not meet the requirements for producing impetus for political progress.
Civic education in Taiwan is intentionally oriented toward China and the KMT, which thinks that by maintaining this situation, the public might develop a slave mentality and learn to obey the party’s commands.
However, this is wishful thinking on the KMT’s part and a wasteful obstruction to education. The party’s lack of ruling legitimacy is likely to end in its collapse. Society is becoming increasingly civilized and advanced, and the force of democratization can surely bring about a critical ability that would demolish the reactionary forces standing in the way of advancement.
After World War II ended in 1945, the KMT occupied Taiwan. The history of its rule is filled with oppression, including the 228 Incident, the White Terror era and the Kaohsiung Incident.
Despite the endless oppression, Taiwanese have managed to overcome layers of impediments, and found ways to rediscover and rebuild themselves. This same force can forge a counteracting mechanism to the KMT’s scheme of using language and history courses to control the minds of Taiwanese.
The KMT ceaselessly exposes its true nature as a colonial ruler. Its desire to monopolize power has not dissipated. It even seeks the assistance of the Chinese Communist Party.
However, in the end, it is destined to be discarded as society awakens. The party might even disappear permanently from Taiwan.
New generations of Taiwanese would then be born and grow up free to draw up a new vision for the nation of Taiwan.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
In the US’ National Security Strategy (NSS) report released last month, US President Donald Trump offered his interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. The “Trump Corollary,” presented on page 15, is a distinctly aggressive rebranding of the more than 200-year-old foreign policy position. Beyond reasserting the sovereignty of the western hemisphere against foreign intervention, the document centers on energy and strategic assets, and attempts to redraw the map of the geopolitical landscape more broadly. It is clear that Trump no longer sees the western hemisphere as a peaceful backyard, but rather as the frontier of a new Cold War. In particular,
When it became clear that the world was entering a new era with a radical change in the US’ global stance in US President Donald Trump’s second term, many in Taiwan were concerned about what this meant for the nation’s defense against China. Instability and disruption are dangerous. Chaos introduces unknowns. There was a sense that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might have a point with its tendency not to trust the US. The world order is certainly changing, but concerns about the implications for Taiwan of this disruption left many blind to how the same forces might also weaken
As the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) races toward its 2027 modernization goals, most analysts fixate on ship counts, missile ranges and artificial intelligence. Those metrics matter — but they obscure a deeper vulnerability. The true future of the PLA, and by extension Taiwan’s security, might hinge less on hardware than on whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can preserve ideological loyalty inside its own armed forces. Iran’s 1979 revolution demonstrated how even a technologically advanced military can collapse when the social environment surrounding it shifts. That lesson has renewed relevance as fresh unrest shakes Iran today — and it should
On today’s page, Masahiro Matsumura, a professor of international politics and national security at St Andrew’s University in Osaka, questions the viability and advisability of the government’s proposed “T-Dome” missile defense system. Matsumura writes that Taiwan’s military budget would be better allocated elsewhere, and cautions against the temptation to allow politics to trump strategic sense. What he does not do is question whether Taiwan needs to increase its defense capabilities. “Given the accelerating pace of Beijing’s military buildup and political coercion ... [Taiwan] cannot afford inaction,” he writes. A rational, robust debate over the specifics, not the scale or the necessity,
RSS