A handful of leftist and radical pro-unification types have been directing the Ministry of Education’s plan to revise the national high-school curriculum, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday.
TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) made the remarks amid the ongoing controversy sparked by the ministry’s plan to revise the nation’s high-school curriculum.
The revisions are scheduled to be implemented in September next year — the beginning of that academic year — when one of the major changes is to be the addition of the word “mainland” in references to China in Chinese language and history textbooks. Also, the 50-year period of Japanese rule in Taiwan is to be referred to as the “Japanese colonial period,” according to the revised curriculum.
Opposition spokespeople have lambasted the so-called revisions as a “de-Taiwanification” of the curriculum.
Huang told a press conference held at the party headquarters in Taipei that revisions to national high-school textbooks should be done within the ministry’s system through normal procedures.
However, the proposed revised history curriculum guidelines, which the central government called “minor adjustments,” were decided by a 10-person task force formed outside the ministry, and includes academics who are considered radical leftists who favor rapid unification with China, he added.
Huang said the head of the task force, Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波), a professor at Shih Hsin University, is vice chairman of the Chinese Unification Union, and that another task force member, Hsieh Ta-ning (謝大寧), a professor at Fo Guang University, has previously argued that Taiwanese and Chinese students should use the same textbooks.
Another task force member, Pan Chao-yang (潘朝陽), a professor at National Taiwan Normal University, previously made a comment saying that people of Taiwan who advocate Taiwanese alliances with the US and Japan to counter China ought to be considered “traitors to Han Chinese (漢奸),” Huang said.
Huang panned the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government for trying to control students’ thought and monopolizing interpretation of Taiwanese history.
He asked the ministry to suspend the plan and have it subjected to customary procedures.
The ministry should suspend the planned revision, Huang said, adding that the ministry should also hold a number of discussions to hear opinions from high-school teachers and the public.
Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒), a professor at National Dong Hwa University, who was also present at the press conference, said that the ministry announced the proposed revision after the legislative session went into recess, saying it was trying to dodge the legislative body’s scrutiny.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS