Netizens yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of using education as a propaganda tool for the promotion of its “one country, two areas” (一國兩區) formula, reacting to an article published by a news Web site in China featuring the convener of the Ministry of Education’s curricular adjustment committee, Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波).
Titled “Returning Taiwan’s History Textbooks to ‘One China’: Not Everyone is [former president] Lee Teng-hui (李登輝),” the article published by the Chinese media Web site Guancha.cn on April 29 has triggered heated discussion since it was reposted on the nation’s largest online academic bulletin board system, Professional Technology Temple (PTT), yesterday morning.
Shih Hsin University professor Wang was quoted in the article as saying that the reason adjustments were proposed to high-school curriculum guidelines three years after its implementation was because of misinformation in some history textbooks.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuan, Taipei Times
Some textbooks inaccurately described so-called “comfort women” as having volunteered to work in wartime brothels in Japan, he was quoted as saying.
“They also painted Taiwanese who were enlisted to serve in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II as willingly joining the Japanese Army out of patriotism,” he said.
As former of the Chinese Unification Union vice chairman Wang has been a magnet for controversy.
His remarks often trigger an outpouring of fury from the online community, as did his recent accusation that Democratic Progressive Party chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) incited young students to stand up against curriculum changes.
The remark by Wang during a Taiwanese political talk show on Friday that “our country’s capital is Nanjing, but Taipei is the current capital of the Taiwan area” has also resulted in much criticism from netizens.
In the article published by Guancha.cn, Wang was quoted as saying that the biggest changes were made to the geography textbooks, which were drawn up based on the principle of “one country, two areas.”
The adjustments include a change from “China’s largest island is Hainan, while our country’s highest peak is Jade Mountain (玉山)” to “The largest island is Taiwan. Our nation’s highest peak is Mount Everest and its Taiwan area is surrounded by water,” Wang wrote.
Asked what kind of impact the curriculum adjustments had on the KMT’s campaign for next year’s presidential and legislative elections, Wang said they had created a strong cohesive force among pan-blue supporters.
“A lack of ‘national goals’ is a critical problem facing the KMT. The party requires more convincing rhetoric to persuade the public and that was exactly what we aimed to achieve through the curriculum changes,” Wang said in the article.
In an article published in the Chinese-language monthly magazine Straits Review (海峽評論) in September last year, titled “Textbooks on Japanese occupation and Taiwanese history” (日據與台灣史教科書), Wang wrote that the 2012 revisions of high-school curriculum guidelines were the result of compromises that were, in his opinion, “unsatisfactory, but acceptable.”
“After being incorporated with China-centric East Asian cultural history... the 2012 revisions allow Chinese history to take up more than two semesters of teaching hours,” Wang said.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS