A high-school civics textbook that touts the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as a “mature, democratic political party with integrity and the capability to govern,” runs counter to reality and aims to brainwash future generations, opposition lawmakers said.
At a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee on Thursday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) took out the textbook published by Chuanhwa Publishing Co (全華圖書) while interpellating Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧).
A paragraph dedicated to the KMT in the textbook, which is designed for first-grade high-school students, states: “As the longest-serving ruling party in the nation, the KMT is a mature, democratic party with integrity and the capability to govern, and has played a critical role in the well-being of the country’s 23 million people.”
“The KMT has been embroiled in more than 100 legal cases since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office [in 2008]. Is this textbook trying to ridicule or praise the party?” Cheng said.
Cheng said the quoted content clearly did not tally with reality, particularly given the recent spate of corruption cases involving KMT members.
He added that publishing such untruthful statements was tantamount to an attempt at brainwashing future generations.
“Moreover, the textbook fails to make any mention of the DPP’s eight-year governance of the country [between 2000 and 2008] when introducing the party to young pupils, which is also inconsistent with history,” Cheng said.
DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that amid the ongoing graft cases involving former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) and former Taipei City councilor Lai Su-ju (賴素如) of the KMT, the textbook’s description of the KMT as a “mature party with integrity” could be the greatest irony promoted by the national education system.
“The textbook appears to have degenerated into political propaganda and forsaken every democratic value in this nation,” Lin Chia-lung said, calling on the ministry to reflect on the matter and make necessary changes.
Chiang said he would refer the matter to the Textbooks Review Committee, which was the main body charged with screening textbooks, adding that while the content of school textbooks was subject to public scrutiny, he “did not get the impression that the statements in question are praising the KMT.”
Yang Kuo-yang (楊國揚), director of the National Academy for Educational Research’s Development Center for Textbooks, said the textbook was granted a six-year approval license due to expire in 2015 and that the center would request its publisher to provide explanations or make necessary corrections should the review committee find its content inappropriate.
In response to media queries, Chuanhwa Publishing editor Tsai Yi-jung (蔡依蓉) said a formal inquiry in written form needs to be sent to the company before an official statement could be made on the matter.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
RSS