Academics from four major Taiwan-centric advocacy groups have urged the Ministry of Education not to bow to pressure from pro-unification legislators who want to stall changes to the high-school history curriculum
The ministry wants to give Taiwanese history a more prominent place in the education of students and place less emphasis on Chinese history -- a move that has angered pro-China pan-blue lawmakers.
Yesterday, the chairmen of the Northern Taiwan Society, the Central Taiwan Society, the Eastern Taiwan Society, and the Southern Taiwan Society said that history education in Taiwan should be based on Taiwanese history and that the ministry should be firm and defend the need to make the changes.
The scholars took particular exception to Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (
The dispute arose on Wednesday in the legislatures education committee. Anti-localization lawmakers from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) rejected the ministry's new guidelines for the history textbooks to be used in high school.
Under the proposed guidelines, Chinese history from the latter part of Ming Dynasty, the entire Ching Dynasty and the establishment of Republic of China would lose their position of prominence. History from those eras would be taught under the heading of " modern world history," which would be taught after students had already learned Taiwanese history and early Chinese history.
The changes angered the pan-blue lawmakers to the extent that ministry backed down and agreed to restore Chinese history to its former place of prominence. Huang even promised not to implement any new guidelines until 2006.
This flip-flop has angered and disappointed Taiwanese historians and scholars who had hoped to see the changes.
Tzeng Kuei-hai (
"Apart from the scant Taiwanese history, our history textbooks, complied by pro-unification academics, teach our native Aborigines that their ethnic origins are Chinese. It's ridiculous," Tzeng said, adding the Aboriginals in Taiwan have their origins in the Austronesian groups of the south Pacific.
The academics yesterday all demanded that the ministry stick to its original plan and highlight more Taiwanese history in the text books.
"The Ministry of Education should fire the convener of the ad hoc committee developing the guidelines for the textbooks, Chang Yuan (
Vice Chairman of the Northern Taiwan Society Chen Yi-shen (
"It is an encouraging start that more Taiwanese history is gradually being brought into our textbooks, after five decades of being totally ignored by the KMT regime. We hope the Ministry of Education will take a hard stance on the issue," Chen said.
Chairman of the Eastern Taiwan Society Yu Wen-yi (
Yu, who is also a doctor, said: "My Aboriginal patients once told me they were invited to join in a dance festival for Chinese minority ethnic groups. I asked them why, since they are not of Chinese origin, did they attend such an event?"
"And then they thanked me for clarifying their origins to them and said they would never again go to the event," he said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS