For Immediate Release
Washington DC – July 31, 2015
Contact: (202) 547-3686
FAPA Statement On Heavy-Handed Handling Of The Student Protests Against History Textbook Amendments By The Ma Administration
Today, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs – a Taiwanese-American grassroots organization with 54 chapters across the United States — expressed its deep concerns about the heavy-handed handling of the student protests against amendments of history textbooks by the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou in Taiwan.
The problem stems from the fact that during the past two years, the administration of President Ma has been preparing changes in the history textbooks that turn the clock back to the days of the repressive Martial Law (1949-1987) when the ruling Kuomintang – which came over from China in 1949 – imposed its version of history on the people of Taiwan, emphasizing a Sino-centric view, and glorifying the Chinese Nationalist perspective.
After Taiwan’s momentous transition to democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the governments of presidents Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian were able to bring about a change to a more Taiwan-centric perspective, emphasizing Taiwan’s own rich history, geography and culture. The amendments currently being proposed and implemented by the Ma administration are designed to shift the focus back to an anachronistic perspective based on the outdated worldview of the Kuomintang old guard ideologues, and whitewashing the authoritarian period.
During the past few months, there has been an increasing groundswell of protests against the proposed amendments – which presumably will go into effect on 1 August 2015. Both teachers of history as well as students at high schools and universities have voiced strong opposition against the changes, and have urged the Ministry of Education to rescind the proposed amendments. To no avail: the Ministry has persisted in moving forward.
After a series of fruitless meetings between ministry officials and leaders of student organizations, a number of high school activists briefly occupied the Ministry of Education on 23 July 2015. As a result 33 persons were arrested and detained for a day, including 20-years student leader Lin Kuan-hua. On Thursday, 30 July 2015 – his birthday – he tragically committed suicide in protest against the lack of responsiveness and harsh treatment they received.
As an overseas organization of Taiwanese-Americans we fully support the student protests. The young generation in Taiwan – as all the people in Taiwan – have a right to an unvarnished history that presents the facts. The country needs to get away from the biased and self-serving accounts of a repressive Kuomintang regime. Taiwan can be proud of its rich and multi-cultured history. The young protesters are right to stand up to this imposition of a false and flawed account of the course of history.
FAPA urges the government of President Ma Ying-jeou to:
- Immediately rescind the proposed changes, drop any legal charges against arrested students, and take responsibility for the death of student leader Lin Kuan-Hua;
- Establish a truly bipartisan group of experts in the field of history, and allow them to draw truly factual outlines for history texts;
- In the meantime, continue the use of current textbooks, without making use of any of the proposed amendments.
