President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Oct. 30 met with nearly 200 students from senior-high schools nationwide. At the event, students raised a variety of issues, such as the current international situation and a potential Chinese invasion.
Tsai answered that the world is closely watching whether Taiwanese have a strong will to protect themselves.
Under such circumstances, the international situation might be more favorable toward Taiwan.
Taiwanese should first increase their determination to defend themselves, so that they can win others’ support, she said.
I was a senior-high school student more than 30 years ago, and I cared about Taiwan’s future and national development.
At the time, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government told us that the Chinese Communist Party regime was bringing calamity to China and its people, and we should boost our determination to defeat the communists and “recover the mainland.”
Our teachers taught us to strive for the unification of China under the Three Principles of the People (三民主義), while our military instructors paid attention to our words and actions at all times, and were also concerned about our “patriotic sentiments.”
In the past, school principals were unlikely to meet and talk with the president, while it was completely impossible for senior-high school students to do so.
Three decades ago, the government wove a fantasy of “defeating communism and recovering the mainland” (反共復國) for us, and Taiwan’s national development goals were all aimed at achieving that goal. The president was like a god on high, who could not be questioned, criticized or challenged.
Education had been downgraded to a political tool. Historical truths were nowhere to be found in history classes, while Chinese mountains, rivers, provinces and cities were taught extensively in geography classes.
In essays, students often concluded with references to “recovering the mainland and saving compatriots from hardship” to encourage Chinese teachers to give them a high score.
Three decades later, senior-high school students are no longer like this, as they are able to discuss the international situation and cross-strait development with teachers, while military instructors no longer care about whether students have said something “unpatriotic.”
Today, education fully respects individual development and self-expression, and students have more chances to chat with principals and even to be selected to meet with the president.
This is exactly the value of democracy and freedom.
However, these changes did not happen by accident; they were a result of hardships and should be safeguarded.
If Taiwanese want to continue to enjoy living in freedom, they need to have the strong will emphasized by Tsai during her meeting with the students. They need to demonstrate their will to safeguard the nation.
Chen Chi-nung is principal of Shuili Junior High School in Nantou County.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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