Shih Hsin University professor Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波), who also served as the convener of the Ministry of Education’s curriculum adjustment task force, yesterday said that the killing of 20,000 people by former president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) Nationalist military in the 228 Massacre was “a small case” compared with the 400,000 killed during Chiang’s purges in China.
Wang made the remarks in response to a question from the audience at a forum hosted by the pro-unification Cross-Strait Peace Development Forum to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the 228 Massacre.
“Chiang started killing his opponents in China, not in Taiwan. The Chinese government estimated Chiang had put to death over 400,000 people during the ‘communist purges’ in China [during the 1920s],” Wang said.
Photo: Chen Wei-min, Taipei Times
“Families of Taiwan’s 228 victims said the total people killed by the KMT troops was around 20,000. So when you compare 400,000 to 20,000, what we have here is a small case,” he said.
Wang, born in China in 1943, said the 228 Incident was not a conflict between Taiwanese and Mainlanders, but of oppressed people rising up against oppressors.
“Why did the Nationalist military go on an arbitrary arrest and killing spree of Taiwanese? That was because you opposed the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] government,” he said. “When Mainlanders escaped to Taiwan in 1949, their leadership regime was the KMT government. At the time, whomever the government branded a communist had to be killed. So the 228 Incident resulted from the Chinese Civil War.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) condemned Wang’s remarks.
“He is trampling on people’s rights, and adding more hurt and insult to [228 Massacre] victims and their families,” she said. “How can such a person be qualified to head up the committee to adjust school curriculum guidelines, which has a wide and extensive influence on students’ right to education?”
“China has such a large population, where as Taiwan has a much smaller population. Does Wang Hsiao-po think that killing 20,000 people was not enough?” DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
“Wang has no concept of human rights, that is why he removed the words ‘White Terror era’ [in the adjusted high-school curriculum guidelines] and made remarks lacking in any human conscience,” Chen said.
Wang also urged an end to the Chinese Civil War and political infighting and to focus on peaceful unification of “China.”
“There are no heroes in a civil war. What is the big deal about Chinese people killing fellow Chinese? Real heroes should fight against foreign invaders,” he said.
“Therefore we should come together to build up China as a peaceful, free, equal rights, and neutral nation,” he said. “That is the unfinished business following the suffering of victims from the 228 and the White Terror period.”
The decisions of the ministry’s task force have led to controversy.
Critics have complained that Wang is not a historian and that the task force did not have one academic specializing in Taiwan history.
Wang yesterday vigorously defended the task force’s decisions.
"You tell those pan-green historians to come up with 100 questions, and let us see who is better at coming up with answers," he said.
He said history studies are divided into Taiwan’s history, Chinese history, world history and the history of civilizations.
"Although the history group on the task force only has two members, and their specialty is Chinese history, they still have a background in Taiwan’s history. Nobody can encompass the entire field of history," he said.
When asked why the task force removed the phrase "White Terror era" from the high-school civic and history curriculum guidelines, Wang said the change had been requested by high-school teachers.
"Teachers complained the section was too lengthy and too demanding for their students. We want to prevent high-school students from encountering discussions about the ’White Terror’ here, there and everywhere. It would cause them too much aggravation," he said.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique