Ma upset like protesters
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is said to be upset by the distortions of some historical facts related to World War II by China and former vice president Lien Chan (連戰).
Lien, who attended China’s Sept. 3 military parade in Beijing to mark the end of World War II, said in front of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that the 14-year — instead of the eight-year — war against Japan was fought jointly by the Chinese Nationalist army and the Communists rather than by Chinese Nationalists alone. Lien also said that Taiwan was retroceded to China.
Ma often twists history and upsets Taiwanese. Possibly for the first time, Ma himself appears to be upset by the twisting of historical facts by China and Lien.
Presumably, Ma now shares a similar feeling to that of the high-school students who staged protests against the Ministry of Education for distorting or omitting several historical facts in the changes it has made to the high-school curriculum. Ma should ask Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) to take immediate action to rectify the high-school curriculum in accordance with facts rather than political goals.
As for corrections on World War II history, China should cite the San Francisco Peace Treaty instead of the Cairo Declaration regarding the true status of Taiwan; Xi should say that Taiwanese did not join the Chinese to fight Japan, but were drafted to fight for Japan; and Lien should cite the US as the key factor behind the retrocession of Taiwan.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
Mentally ill still stigmatized
An article by Nate Schweber (“Life on the streets,” Sept. 11, page 9) hints at how some people who have metal illnesses become jobless or homeless in New York City.
Although the UN adopted “The Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care,” which prescribes that “every person with a mental illness shall have the right to live and work, to the extent possible, in the community,” this principle appears more rhetoric than realistic even in a developed nation like the US.
Apparently, mental illnesses are still stigmatized in many nations, which deprives mentally ill people of decent living and working conditions.
We need more efforts from the media, educational institutions and healthcare organizations to remove the stigma around mental illnesses.
That way, protection of the rights of the people who have mental illnesses might be realized at the communal and professional levels.
Chingning Wang
Sydney, Australia
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