President Chen Shui-bian (
"As the 11th president of the Republic of China [ROC], I support Chinese culture and respect the revolution of history," he said. "And I cannot and will not interfere with the editing and compilation of history by professionals."
Chen said that he recognizes and approves of Chinese culture, but emphasized that Chinese culture does not equal to Sinicization. He said this is a point that many people can understand.
Chen made the remarks while attending the Chinese Cultural Revival sports carnival.
He pointed out that as president and one of the 23 million people in the country, he -- as well as other administration officials -- has the utmost respect for historical evolution and no value differentiation.
Chen rejected accusations by opposition parties that the Ministry of Education's attempts to change the syllabus of high-school history textbooks is politically motivated and aimed at moving toward Tai-wan's independence.
He said those who think that rewriting the curriculum is an act of disrespect toward the nation's ancestors or who want the minister of education to resign are regrettable.
Chen said he hoped that those politicians who are trying to benefit from creating controversy should not make an issue of the guidelines for the high-school history curriculum.
Meanwhile, Examination Yuan member Lin Yu-ti (
"Sun was one of the four biggest rebel bandits wanted by the Manchu Dynasty," Lin said during a TV interview. "If he could be venerated as a founding father, why not the other three bandits?"
Lin said he did not regret raising the issue during the legislative election campaign.
"They [pan-blue parties' supporters and candidates] threw eggs at my portrait. What a waste," he said.
"I will not withdraw just because of those political clowns' behavior," he said.
Asked by reporters whether he will campaign for pan-green candidates to further push his ideas about Taiwan's history, Lin said that he is fighting for a review of history, which had been spoiled by five decades of KMT rule, not to serve any particular political party.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS