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Chen says history education should enhance democracy

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that history education plays an important role in solidifying the nation's will since Taiwan's democracy has entered a critical stage.

Chen made the remark in speech at a symposium held by Academia Historica in the National Central Library and comes as debate on the new guidelines for high school history textbooks heats up.

In his speech, Chen said Academia Historica has made a great contribution under curator Chang Yen-hsien's (張炎憲) leadership in restoring the historical documents and books that recount Taiwan's democratic development, which bring Taiwan's history closer to its people.

"Although people in Taiwan have gone through Japan's colonization and the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) autocracy for the past century, we still created a democratic miracle because of our thirst for democracy," Chen said. "But we still need to work on integrating different historical perspectives and experiences with tolerance and practicing the value of democracy in our daily life."

Chen criticized opposition parties for boycotting the establishment of a national human rights commission.

"But I do not believe they [opposition parties] can keep resisting the democratic trend," Chen said.

Although the three-day event is entitled Symposium of History of the Republic of China, it focuses on the development of Taiwan's democracy in the 20th century, the history of Taiwan's democratic movement since 1895, the KMT's reign and the process of the nation's constitutional government.

More than 70 academics specializing in history, sociology and political science attended the symposium and 31 dissertations will be announced and reviewed.

Retired National Taiwan University law professor Lee Hung-hsi (李鴻禧) examined from a historical perspective Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) notion that the Republic of China does not exist.

Lee Hung-hsi said the Republic of China was overthrown by the People's Republic of China in 1949, while the KMT continued its sovereignty by occupying Taiwan without effective international backing.

Chen Chun-kai (陳君愷), an associate professor of history at Fu Jen University, said in his dissertation that Taiwan's pursuing democracy is a winding road.

"At this point, Taiwan still faces a critical challenge because of the opposition parties' unreasonable boycott, which [is why] I call today's democracy in Taiwan a `nominal democracy,'" Chen Chun-kai said.

"Only by looking into Taiwan's history can we clarify today's situation and make out the road for the future," he said.
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