KMT’s cultural genocide
From 1883 to 1998, the Canadian government removed 150,000 First Nations and non-white children from their homes and put them through 139 brutal boarding schools.
The Canadian government forced assimilation on three non-white groups in Canada, scrubbing out their culture and religious beliefs, and taught them an altered history that the government wanted.
The consequence was that 1.4 million First Nations people have a lower average income, as well as higher rates of incarceration, suicide and diseases than the whole population.
Since 2008, the government has paid US$3.5 billion in compensation through the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but many more recommendations from the commission have yet to be implemented (see The Economist, June 6).
History repeats for those who are ignorant about the past. It is totally unacceptable to alter proposed high-school textbooks to brainwash schoolchildren, especially in a democratic society.
Worse still, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) staffed the curriculum review committee with personnel indoctrinated in China.
The Republic of China proclaims itself a democracy, but the government wants to delete historical events, such as the 228 Incident and the White Terror era, from textbooks, replacing them with lies and brainwashing material.
The administration has added a new section to textbook guidelines emphasizing Chinese culture, with no mention of Taiwanese or Aboriginal culture.
The KMT still has no idea that it is committing cultural genocide. It still does not understand that Taiwanese will not accept such tactics.
The textbooks, if Taiwanese allow them, would alter not only the nation’s recent history, but also historical facts. They recharacterize events back to the Dutch colonial period (1624-1662) and the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
What is the purpose of history lessons in schools if the facts can be altered at any time for political purposes?
The future of Taiwan belongs to the younger generation. Fortunately, young Taiwanese, such as those involved in the Sunflower movement, have the courage to challenge the central government over black-box trade deals with China.
Additionally, the ongoing Black Umbrella action is challenging the curriculum changes directly.
There is hope indeed.
Taiwanese should not allow history to be altered for political purposes. People are proud of their past and look forward to a bright future. After all, history is what makes people who they are.
Yu-Chong Lin
Honolulu, Hawaii
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry