The pro-independence 908 Taiwan Nation Movement said yesterday that the San Francisco Peace Treaty is technically a "birth certificate" for Taiwan -- so the treaty's contents should be written into textbooks for Taiwan's students to learn.
Japan signed the treaty with 48 UN member countries represented in a meeting in San Francisco on Sept. 8, 1951.
In the treaty, Japan declared that it would give up its sovereignty claims over Taiwan, Penghu and all its other offshore islands.
Wang Hsien-chi (
SOVEREIGNTY
Wang said during the visit that the notion of Taiwan's sovereignty has never had anything to do with China or the People's Republic of China.
He blamed the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for promoting a "great China myth" in Taiwan's educational domain when the party was in power.
This "great China myth" education has misled the people of Taiwan regarding Taiwan's sovereignty and its people's national identity, Wang said.
He said that elementary-school students still use workbooks carrying the motto "Being a dignified and imposing Chinese" on their back covers.
`RESURFACE THE TRUTH'
Wang said that it is now the responsibility of the ministry to "return or resurface the truth of history."
It is hoped that the peace treaty and related history be carried in textbooks for junior high, senior-high and vocational schools in Taiwan, Wang said.
For his part, Chou said that he will relay Wang and his group's opinion to Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) and relevant departments of the ministry.
He said that the matter will be carried in textbooks after historians have researched the issue and find it in accordance with historical truth and data.
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