The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday demanded that the Ministry of Education remove former ministry secretary-general Chuang Kuo-jung (莊國榮) from his post as convener of a curriculum guidelines review committee, citing what the KMT called his past “vulgar remarks.”
At a news conference in Taipei yesterday morning, KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said education is vital for younger generations and is supposed to transcend politics.
“However, Chuang is not only notorious for his often vulgar and preposterous rhetoric, but also for his apparent political affiliations,” Wang said.
Urging the ministry to immediately dismiss Chuang and remove him from the committee, Wang also called on parents to jointly oppose Chuang’s participation in the committee.
Wang said the public would not accept the decision by the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to appoint Chuang, who left the ministry years ago over inappropriate remarks, to serve such a significant post in the committee.
“Chuang is less deserving than elementary and junior-high school students of participating in the process of reviewing curriculum guidelines. Curricula could become unimaginably horrific if we let someone like him be a part of this endeavor or serve as the convener of the committee,” Wang said.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Hu Wen-chi (胡文琦) last month at a news conference also criticized the ministry’s designation of Chuang as the committee’s convener.
“A teacher is someone who conveys the truth, passes on knowledge and clarifies doubts. Chuang is unfit for the job in terms of both his words and actions,” Hu said.
Hu said Chuang’s past remarks have proven him to be a man guided by outdated stereotypes and ideologies, hatred and obscene ideas, citing as examples Chuang’s use of terms such as khai tsa boo (開查某), a Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) term meaning “visiting a prostitute,” and xiao naonao (小孬孬), Chinese for “being a pussy.”
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
RSS