KMT ensnared by China
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) at a news conference on Monday explained the “achievements” of his 10-day visit to China, from where he returned on Saturday last week. He said that he had told the Chinese side that heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait are making the Taiwanese public uneasy.
Hsia said that he had spoken up for Taiwanese by saying everything that needed to be said, without saying anything about elections.
Hsia said that China has its policies and we have our standpoints, and that the KMT went over there to engage in dialogue with the hosts, not to argue with them.
Hsia and his companions boasted about the high-grade reception they received from China and the harmonious atmosphere of their meetings, without too much talk about politics.
This begs the question: If a delegation is only there for a pat on the head, while giving the nod to anything that China proposes, is it not the perfect tool for China to conduct its “united front” influence operations? If so, what does the KMT have to be proud of?
China has all along defined the “1992 consensus” as meaning “one China,” without any mention of each side interpreting “one China” in its own way.
However, the KMT kids itself and tries to kid everyone else by insisting that there can be no “1992 consensus” without “different interpretations.” Evidently, the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have completely different perceptions of the so-called “consensus.” One must ask whether Hsia, when facing senior Chinese officials, dared to openly refute the CCP’s version and state that the KMT’s demands are different from its. Did they dare to say that the KMT’s interpretation of “one China” is the Republic of China?
In Taiwan, the KMT does everything it can to cover up for China. It sees China as a big brother and never dares to say anything that China might not like. Hsia and his companions could hardly find time to fawn on their hosts, so how could they have time to argue with them? Did they dare to tell China to stop harassing Taiwan with its warplanes and warships or to stop suppressing Taiwan in the international community? These demands would represent the genuine concerns of Taiwanese public opinion, but did Hsia sternly call for these things or strongly argue for them?
It is a shame to see how willing the KMT is to be entrapped by China.
Tien Feng-wen
New Taipei City
Exam policy failings
Not long ago, the College Entrance Examination Center’s (CEEC) testing committee held a meeting to discuss the punishments for irregularities among test-takers during the General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT) in January.
Each of the 537 students who violated the rules by drawing on answer sheets will only be deducted 1 grade point for a test that grants up to 15 grade points.
This deduction standard is too lenient. Test-takers who scrawled on the answer sheets should not have received a single grade point.
Senior high schools must have given detailed instructions to students about possible violations before the GSAT and students would certainly have taken practice exams.
They should have been fully aware that they must not draw on answer sheets, but they did so regardless. This means that they did not care about their test scores and lacked a sense of responsibility for themselves.
It is a waste of education resources to allow such students to receive any grade points, let alone go to college. Instead, it would be better that they enter the workforce as quickly as possible so they can try to find direction in life through the lessons they will learn in wider society.
Even if such students are able to enter college, they might have no enthusiasm or motivation to study. For institutions of higher education, enrolling such students is like filling vacancies, boosting enrollment in departments that are struggling to survive amid the nation’s low birthrate.
Such things do nothing for an institution’s academic status or teaching quality, not to mention that when faced with such students, educators must feel helpless and frustrated.
College education is considered a link of higher education. If the basic quality of admission is poor, those who have little interest in studying might be admitted. In that case, the overall quality of college education will decline.
This will hurt Taiwan’s competitiveness.
Besides, not everyone in society needs to go to college. In addition to pursuing higher education, there are many other possible directions in life. Is the CEEC’s announcement that only 1 grade point will be deducted from those found to have violated the test rules giving the students a way out or blocking their way out? The center should re-evaluate its approach.
Chi Yi-chien
Chiayi City
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