The last few months in Taiwan has seen a
roiling controversy about changes the Ministry of Education has made to the
high school curriculum, particularly to history, literature, and geography of
Taiwan's Republic of China.
The high school student "Sunflower" movement
used a popular Wobbly "silent agitator" sticker,
"An Injury to One is an Injury to All," as their
slogan. Documentary maker Kevin Lee (李惠仁) introduced
a T-shirt which he wore with the anti-curriculum-changes slogan
on it.
In an editorial of July 25, "Twilight of
China-centric Primacy" in the Taipei Times, not once did Noah Buchan
mention the influence of the United States in Taiwan. "This place,"
he says, "that today is called Taiwan has been ruled at various points and
at various places by Aborigines, Spanish and Dutch explorers, Chinese settlers,
Japanese imperialists and a Chinese military." He forgot to mention the
U.S. has been influencing Taiwan history since 1945.
Mr. Buchan says the Taiwanese are " ...members
of a nation that does not include China, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet,
Japan, the U.S. or any other place." Noah Buchan is in a
serious flood of denial.
For the record, the United States handed Taiwan to the KMT
Chinese in 1945, ignored the 228 massacre, kept over 60,000 troops here for
thirty two years of the thirty-eight year martial law, set up an English radio
station and other adult entertainment, put English on street signs and in
public schools, exploited Taiwan's proximity to eavesdrop on China, then used
Taiwan to outsource sweatshops for American industrialists here and throughout
Asia.
To Noah Buchan, there was no American imperialism
happening in Taiwan and there is still no American influence. Noah marches his
denials in, two by two, on the Taiwan ark. He is obviously out of touch with
the ocean around him so he can criticize the KMT whose Department of Education
recently modified Taiwanese-Chinese history in high school textbooks.
To activist Taiwanese youth, the so-called "Sunflower
Movement," with little knowledge of labor history to fall back on, there
is only gender of KMT political power; they don't see the other gender of this
pair; the DPP cohort influence.
KMT Political Socialization in Taiwan is nothing new,
but it has backfired into the newest "Sunflower" cause celeb, thanks
to some dumb conservative advice and a little push from the Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) with nods of approval from U.S. think-tankers.
Students around the world have been misled by their
governments. Why should Taiwan be any different? There are thousands of
erroneous facts in American history that are kept out
of textbooks or glossed over. For example, in American history textbooks,
Asian (which is referred to as the "Far East") and Middle World (they
still call "Middle East") history gets all of one or two pages to the
bulk of Euro-centric Christian history.
Also, in American textbooks, in the Asian history section,
there is no mention of the US military having prior knowledge of an upcoming
bombing of Pearl Harbor; they needed a pretense for declaring war on Japan.
There is no mention in American textbooks that the war was won before
needlessly dropping two atom bombs on Japanese civilians. In the Chinese
history section, the KMT was America's 'friend' during World War II, helping
defeat Japan when, in fact, they spent most of the money the U.S. senate gave
them fighting the communists or pocketing the change.
The CCP likes it when the KMT criticizes
Japan, while the DPP and America curry Japan’s support in containing China. It
all boils down to the United States government wanting to contain Chinese power
to continue economic and military dominance of Asia and the
world. Taiwanese people cannot deny that Taiwan culture is
influenced by Chinese any less than American culture is English.
A Review of the Taiwan High School Curriculum Controversy
With "Debatable Items" of the new curriculum guidelines
(reported by Taipei Times):
This is a review of the Taiwan High School Curriculum Controversy. I tried to
cull a list of grievances opponents made to the modifications in textbooks
content. In July 2013, three pro-unification publishers changed some content
after directives from KMT consultants in the Ministry of Education.
In May 2014, a
teacher from Taichung showed slides of photos from the textbooks to the DPP
with the changes to content.
In February 2015, the Taipei High Administrative Court on
ruled against the Ministry of Education in a case involving the ministry’s
controversial “minor adjustments” to high-school curriculum guidelines for
history, civic and social studies, Chinese and geography saying its information
should be more transparent and complete for public perusal.
The DPP claimed the changes “de-Taiwanization and
Sinification” of the education system tailored to the Chinese Nationalist
Party’s (KMT) view of history. The DPP organized more than 50 protesters —
joined by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-Cher (黃偉哲) and Taiwan
Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) who rallied
in front of the Ministry of Education building.
In April 2015 an alliance called for a textbook boycott
because of the "conservative ideology of committee members."
In May 2015 The
chairman of the pro-unification Chinese Integration Association, has said that
younger generations — without the cultivation of Chinese culture — have become
empty, “with no identity, confidence, patience, vision, direction or
viewpoint.”He also said that more Mandarin Chinese-language learning hours
would equate to “more filial piety and sibling love.”
The Minister of
Education Wu Se-Hwa (吳思華) said that the new curriculum guidelines should be followed in
new textbooks set to be printed and would be used to draw up college entrance
examination questions.
High-school student protested against the Ministry of
Education’s controversial adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines with
students from at least 16 high schools campaigning in nationwide, coordinated
action.
In June 2015, anti-curriculum groups said they would
provide students protesting curriculum adjustments to mobilize their peers in
staging a nationwide rally. The groups said that they would provide the
students with the resources to arouse and mobilize their peers nationwide in
the build-up to the rally, including legal assistance should the young people
face prosecution over their actions.
Groups gathered outside the ministry to throw their
support behind Wu, who, they said, is a “minister of courage” who dares to
“right the wrong.”
The Ministry of
Education scheduled four hearings. The first at National Taichung First Senior
High School fell into disarray as the audience drowned out the speakers. Wu
apologized to students, teachers and parents who had signed up for the three
cancelled hearings, adding that he would answer their questions during the
“open mike” session.
The Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) were accused by the KMT
of manipulating students and said they were the source of discontent in schools
nationwide in ongoing controversy surrounding the Ministry of Education’s
planned adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines. The ministry has
taken a step back and not insisted on the exclusive use of new textbooks.
The textbooks used
in the Japanese colonial era put great emphasis on familiarizing students with
Taiwan and students even had to climb Yu-Shan as a graduation
requirement. However, the textbooks used since the then-Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 have sought to
make students memorize a slew of facts about Chinese history and geography,
making students learn where the Yangtze River and Yellow River flow in China,
without knowing where the Tseng-Wen River traverses Taiwan.
On July 14, 2015, students forced their way into the K-12
Education Administration building in Taipei. Thirteen forced their way into
building. By July 23, 2015, high-school students camped outside the
Ministry of Education gates rallying for the withdrawal of controversial
high-school curriculum guidelines. More than 300 people participated in the rally
with students piling textbooks outside of the ministry’s entrance to express
their dissatisfaction.
The Ministry of Education said that 33
people were arrested, while video showed police dragging people from an office
on the second floor. The handcuffing of students was said to be
“disproportionate” and a breach of the Police Power Exercise Act.Three
journalists arrested while covering the storming of Ministry of Education
building late on Thursday night and early yesterday morning were released
without bail by prosecutors after they insisted on pleading not guilty
Wu also ruled out any temporary suspension of the
controversial curriculum guidelines, stating that the administrative procedures
for them to go into effect next month have already been completed and he could
not reverse them. He said the ministry maintains that schools are to be allowed
to use textbooks based on either the old or new versions of guidelines, with
teachers using “supplementary materials” to lead discussion on both sides of
the controversial portions.
KMT Legislator Lin
Te-fu (林德福) displayed a photograph that has been circulating online, showing a
receipt for NT$1,495 worth of umbrellas, suggesting that the DPP had made the
purchase.
Lin said the DPP likely masterminded the
break-in.
On Thursday, July
30, 2015, a Taiwan Student protester committed suicide. Dai
Lin (林冠華) had been a
prominent activist within the Northern Taiwan Anti-Curriculum Changes Alliance.
Lin periodically served as one of the group’s spokespeople. In a final
Facebook post, Lin wrote: "I have only one wish: Minister [of Education Wu
Se-Hwa (吳思華)] withdraw the curriculum guidelines.” Nearly 100 angry
students storm legislature.
Debatable item #1:
Problems with Taiwan's ethnic relations, “...partially originate from Taiwan’s
frequent elections, in which certain political parties constantly incite
disharmony among different ethnic groups that were just beginning to meld,
causing polarization and breeding antagonism between the groups.”
Debatable item #2: In the
chapter on cross-strait relations, the textbook praises the government’s policy
of a “diplomatic truce” with China, saying that it has greatly improved
cross-strait relations, as now the two sides no longer compete for diplomatic
allies.
Debatable item #3: The
curriculum stresses the contributions of the Qing Dynasty to Taiwan’s
development and downplays the role of Japan.
Debatable item # 4: The
curriculum also reintroduces an outdated term, “ quan fu” (光復) — meaning the
recovery of Taiwan by the Republic of China from Japanese rule; the term is
allegedly a throwback to former president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) regime.
Debatable item #5: Changes to
the history curriculum included revising the term “Japanese-governed period” to
“Japanese occupation period.”
Debatable item # 6: Naming
the period during which Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功) — who ruled
Taiwan in the 17th century — the “Ming-Cheng period,” with “Ming” signifying
China’s Ming Dynasty, despite the Ming not, in official terms, claiming
sovereignty over Taiwan, a DPP education group alleged.
Debatable item #7: Use of the
phrase “Filipino servants” instead of “migrant workers” and replace “foreign
spouses” with “foreign brides,” she said.
Debatable item #8: It cut out
sections on human rights and the White Terror era, while adding sections on the
‘family clan’ and Chinese culture that they felt were more important.
Debatable item #9: Curriculum
reincorporates a high percentage of classical Chinese material while neglecting
Taiwanese and contemporary literature, "percentage of classical Chinese
has been raised from 55 percent to 65 percent."
Debatable item #10: The
publisher’s history textbook used the controversial term “returning to the
embrace of the motherland” twice.
Debatable item #11: The
textbook suggests that former president Lee Teng-Hui’s (李登輝) formulation of
the “two states theory” in 1999 hindered cross-strait negotiations.
Debatable item #12: The “one
side, one country” model proposed by Lee’s successor, Chen Shui-Bian (陳水扁), had destabilized
Taiwan-US relations.
Debatable item #13: The
textbook has two full pages on the so-called “1992 consensus” embraced by
President Ma Ying-Jeou (馬英九)
Debatable item # 14: The
textbook also praises the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement for
elevating cross-strait exchanges to the next level.
Debatable item #15: There
is a lack of references in the books to democracy activist Deng Nan-Jung (鄭南榕), the 228 Incident
and the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident which allegedly covers up the former KMT
regime’s disregard for human rights by creating the impression that the
government had attached great importance to the issue.
Debatable item #16: Textbooks
were changed to identify Mount Everest as the nation’s highest peak rather than
Jade Mountain (玉山) because the Constitution says the Republic of China includes all of
China as its territory.
Non -debatable items in Taiwan
history neglected in the old and new version of the curriculum guidelines
None of these facts about the U.S. complicity in the
dictatorship and neo-liberal reform of Taiwan was mentioned in the Taipei
Times editorial written by Noah Buchan in complaining that the KMT
underhandedly. He says the Taiwanese are " ...members of a
nation that does not include China, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Japan, the
U.S. or any other place" neglecting to mention once
U.S. presence in Taiwan, overt and covert, since 1945. Maybe
Taiwanese people are not members of the U.S. influence, but the government of
Taiwan certainly is .
The KMT, with it's loyal opposition, the DPP, is still in
control of legislative policy in Taiwan. Their minister can implement
changes to the curriculum in public schools in the same way as, in the
U.S., the Department of Education sets national curriculum guidelines and
content. When the DPP had presidential power, the curriculum was modified to
represent more Taiwanese local history. That's the way it goes with Democrats
and Republicans in the U.S.
Some historical facts are taboo even to both parties in a
neo-liberal state; that is why books like Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States,
Chris Harman's People's History of
the World, and the Censored series by Peter Phillips
and Project Censored are
essential outside reading for students in the U.S.
Taiwan students need "outside reading" such as
these to learn the truth about their homeland.
While the U.S., in detente with The People's Republic of
China, agrees that there is one China and Taiwan is a part of it, the devil is
in the details and neo-liberal institutions like anti-unionism, corporate
commercialism, the outsourcing of sweatshops It continues with Taiwan as a
major oppressor of workers' rights.
Non-debatable item # 1: The
United States backed the KMT military in their "temporary" retreat
from Mainland China. Two million soldiers and their families were transported
to Taiwan. In his book Formosa Betrayed, George Kerr, a
civilian "Formosa Specialist" lieutenant, Assistant Naval Attache in
the War Department, gives full detail to the onslaught of Chinese citizens
into Taiwan.
Non-debatable item #2: The
United States ignored reports of massacres of Taiwanese intellectuals by
Chinese soldiers; the 228 Massacre.
Non-debatable item # 3: The
United States supported the KMT imposition of martial law which lasted 38
years, a world record.
Non-debatable item #4: The
Sinification of Taiwan was facilitated with political socialization in public
schools and the media. Mandarin Chinese was made the language of instruction
and the use of Japanese, Taiwanese, Hakka were prohibited. (the U.S. insisted
on the use of English in similar indoctrination to Spanish-speaking
Puerto-Ricans when they seized power there in 1898.)
Non-debatable item #5: The
"White Terror" against Taiwanese by the KMT dictatorship was
justified by the U.S. government that continually voted on assisting or loaning
the KMT billions of dollars.
Non-debatable item # 6: The
U.S. stationed up to 60,000 troops in Taiwan from the end of WW II until April
26, 1979 citing the U.S.-Taiwan Mutual Defense Pact of 1954.
Non-debatable item #7: The
U.S. government and media has referred to Taiwan as "Free
China."
Non-debatable item #8: 1980,
the Cold War alliance treaty between the U.S. and Taiwan was terminated and
replaced with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which authorizes the U.S. to
provide Taiwan with “arms of a defensive character.”
Non-debatable item #9: Economic Ties
– The U.S. had been Taiwan’s largest trading partner until 2003.
Non-debatable item # 10: Bilateral
Relations – Taiwan has loyally supported U.S. international policy initiatives,
faithfully reciprocating U.S. support. Taiwan has transformed itself from
rule via martial law to a neo-liberal two-party democracy.
Sweatshop Abuses by American
Companies in Taiwan
The "Sunflower Movement" neglected
the U.S. trade pact with Taiwanese which promoted unfair trade
and suppression of their workers' rights in
Taiwan, but protested a Chinese trade pact. Again the role of the
U.S. in Taiwan was censored as the DPP commandeered the "Sunflower
Movement" for its own political purposes:
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
Critics accuse Nien Hsing Textile Co., Taiwan of operating sweatshop
Andrew Perrin, Chronicle Foreign Service
Nike workers 'kicked, slapped and verbally abused' at factories making
Converse. New allegations follow years of outrage over child labor and
sweatshops
Taiwanese contractor makes Converse
shoes, a supervisor ordered six female workers to stand in the blazing sun
after they failed to meet their target of completing 60 dozen pairs of shoes on
time. Indonesia is Nike's third-largest manufacturing base, after China
and Vietnam, with 140,000 workers at 14 contract factories. Of those,
17,000 produce its Converse line at four factories.
Apple Supplier Accused Of Labor Abuses
By China Watchdog 07/29/2013
BEIJING -- A labor rights group Monday
accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. of abuses including
withholding employees' pay and excessive working hours.
China Labor Watch said it found
violations of the law and of Apple's pledges about working conditions at
factories operated by Pegatron Corp., a Taiwanese company. Conditions in
Chinese factories that produce iPhones and other popular Apple products have
been under scrutiny following complaints about labor and environmental violations
by a different supplier, Taiwan's Foxconn, a unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry
Co.
Chentex
Strike
Sunday, February 18, 2001 Associated Press Writer
TIPITAPA, Nicaragua {AP}— a
four-day strike last summer to demand better pay and working conditions at a
factory that sews blue jeans for the U.S. military by the Taiwanese plant,
one of 48 foreign firms that hires tens of thousands of Nicaraguans to work in
factories in the country's free-trade zone. Activists in the United States have
sued a U.S. unit of the Chentex factory, owned by Taiwan's Nien Hsing business
consortium. Workers also complained about poor ventilation, hot working
conditions, limited bathroom breaks and even physical abuse, Since 1992,
Taiwan has given more than $180 million in aid to Central America — including
$14 million to build Nicaragua's presidential palace and its foreign ministry.
Central America, for its part, is a rare stronghold of support for Taiwan in
its efforts to resist mainland China's attempts to strip the island of international
recognition. Nien Hsing employs more than 13,000 people in Nicaragua
alone.
It is common knowledge among Taiwan business people that
wages are lower, with lower work place safety standards, at factories outside
of Taiwan. Improvement in working conditions in China and Vietnam are
moving Taiwan companies to outsource in factories in Cambodia, Thailand,
Myanmar, etc. In addition, wages in Taiwan have stayed the same for 16 years,
eight of them under KMT rule, eight of them under DPP rules. Foreign labors are
invited and oppressed by local labor laws. Few workers have job security and
most jobs are part-time or temporary.
Teach-ins, of a
sweeping nature are missing: Study groups must agitate, educate, and organize
themselves. The student protests against the "17 Changes" in Taiwan
history textbooks must be discussed in depth by unaffiliated teachers. It won't
happen naturally in this atmosphere of political polarity.
As an ESL teacher
for thirty-five years, twelve in Taiwan, twenty-five in New York City, I
could see that a surreptitious meaning can disarm a youth when taken literally.
The stories I told students about labor struggles in school in the U.S. about
Haymarket, Lawrence, Patterson, Matewan, Triangle Factory, all have correlations
in Taiwan. Political parties are unreliable sources of "the truth." A
people's history must be developed. It has to be developed in Taiwan as well.
The connection to
our youth has to be made or the meaning gets lost, befuddled, or co-opted as the
DPP and KMT have done. Still, Taiwan workers need jobs and a living wage,
something the DPP and KMT have both failed to address.
We know what the KMT-dominated Ministry of Education was
trying to do; they failed because they are no longer trusted economically by
many people in Taiwan. There must be a third way because the DPP doesn't have
the solution, either, pandering to laissez-faire, anti-union American
corporate-imperialist interests.
Afterthoughts
The Taipei Times reported Minister of Education Wu Se-Hwa (吳思華) a few days ago
compared the “diversity of historical interpretations” in changes to
high-school social studies curriculum guidelines to the “juxtaposition of
creationist and evolutionary views in biology textbooks in the US.” Wu
said: “We have heard different opinions about historical facts, about the
status of our nation and about the interpretations of historical contexts, and
there is nothing right or wrong about them. We want to allow students to be
exposed to different views which could make learning more healthy,” Wu
said, citing an editorial from yesterday’s Chinese-language United Daily News,
in which he was quoted as saying that biology textbooks in the US, “definitely
introduce the fact that some, based on religious beliefs, still uphold
creationism, in addition to the evolutionary view, despite the fact that the
latter has been supported by an abundance of scientific evidence, out of
respect for those who have religious faith.”
Enough said. Hey, Christian-Right American Republicans: put that
in your pipe and smoke it.
Demonstrations were suspended because
of the typhoon.
The Lie that is Taiwan News in English
It is no fun at all being
censored by a site pretending to be an open forum for news and views about Taiwan,
but that is reflected in my article about U.S. complicity in Taiwan being whitewashed.
Commentators should be advised and aware not to post news in Taiwan News in
English; the Facebook page should be boycotted as obsolete.
The day
before, I posted the third part of my four-part opinion about the anti-curriculum
change controversy onto Taiwan News in
English Facebook page. I wrote
the article over a week ago but hesitated to post it to the 6,000+ Facebook
page. I posted it to inform the Taiwan English reading public, not to convince
any of those who frequent the site. I post in Taiwan English News sparingly.
I looked at the Facebook site and noticed my post of part 3 has been
removed from "Taiwan News in English" Facebook page. Luckily, my Aug.
10 post of part two of the article (with a reference to part one) is still
there. I posted part 3 again.
There were three readers who
"liked" the article I wrote in one hour before the Taiwan News in English Facebook page
administrators removed it.
The site is obviously not for the truth about Taiwan, in English.
It took eight minutes for the
Facebook page administrators to pin a copy of a weather report to the top post
over my post. However, there were an additional two readers who liked the deleted
post. In One hour fifteen minutes, there had been seventeen views.
The article I wrote was censored a
second time. I will not bother to post it again.
