A group of history teachers yesterday criticized the new high-school history curriculum, saying it presented a biased and “desinicized” version of national history and vowing to counter it by offering online courses.
“We will work with like-minded people to found an association and set up a Web site to present history videos and works on Taiwanese and Chinese history. By doing so, we hope to ensure that Taiwanese can learn about correct history, in which the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are interdependent,” National Chiayi University professor of history Wu Kun-tsai (吳昆財) told a news conference in Taipei.
Wu called it an “educational movement to save history” from pro-independence politicians bent on desinicization.
Photo: CNA
According to the curriculum guidelines approved by the Ministry of Education in August, which are to be implemented in the next academic year, history would be presented in themes rather than in a strictly chronological manner in textbooks.
While Taiwanese history would be taught under the theme “Taiwan and the world,” Chinese history is to be under the theme “China and East Asia.” There is also a world history theme.
The guidelines have a theme-based narrative and “turned Chinese history into East Asian history” in an attempt to desinicize Taiwan’s history, Wu said.
“We are strongly opposed to the government disregarding historical facts and severing Taiwanese from a rich and beautiful historical legacy that is essential to them,” Wu said.
The history courses offered on the proposed Web site are to cover the erased history young people should know and is based on the replaced curriculum, he said.
“President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said she would maintain the status quo, but refused to accept the ‘1992 consensus.’ As a result, cross-strait relations have been stuck in a standoff,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) told the news conference. “Replacing Chinese history with East Asian history would worsen cross-strait relations by further severing cultural and historic ties. It would in no way benefit Taiwan.”
Ma said that he strongly agrees with the movement organizers and hopes more people would support the cause.
High-school history textbooks should help students form a healthy sense of national identity, Taichung Second Senior High School teacher Wu Shao-hsia (伍少俠) said.
The new guidelines disregard chronological order and subsume Chinese history under East Asian history, when it could have presented a complete history of the Republic of China (ROC) from the perspective of the ROC government, Wu Shao-hsia said.
“It is unacceptable from both the perspective of historical research and national identity,” he said. “I dare not say we are going to correct history, but we have to do what our conscience tells us is the right thing.”
The ministry has previously rejected accusations that the new guidelines were designed to desinisize the nation.
“The guidelines do not desinisize the nation’s history or replace Chinese history with East Asian history. Instead, they enable students to not only learn about Chinese history, but develop a structured and rich understanding of its connections to global history,” the ministry said in a statement in August.
The theme-based approach is an effort to break free from nationalism and other ideologies, and aims to help students develop awareness as global citizens and better appreciate diversity, it said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS