Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Historians insist Ma should leave textbooks alone

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chiun, second right, and -academics hold a press conference in Taipei yesterday to criticize President Ma Ying-jeou’s suggestions about amending senior-high school history textbooks.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and a group of historians yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for the second time in as many months to stop interfering with high-school history textbooks and trying to inculcate kids with his own ideology.

“Ma’s comments at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday were proof that he is behind the ‘de-Taiwanization’ of high-school textbooks,” Cheng told a press conference.

Tibetan monk beaten to death by Chinese security personnel

Phayul.com

Military checkpoint in Eastern Tibet. (File photo)

DHARAMSHALA, July 16: A Tibetan monk was beaten to death by Chinese security personnel after he was stopped at a security checkpoint in Riwoche, Kham, eastern Tibet.

According to sources in exile, Pema Norbu, a monk from Lhopu Monastery, studying at the Dege Dzongsar Institute, was returning to his hometown of Riwoche when he was apprehended by Chinese forces at one of the many checkpoints in the region.

Martial law era stings still smart

Taipei Times Editorial

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the lifting of martial law. In this quarter century, Taiwan has evolved into a full-fledged democracy and made significant progress toward respect for human rights.

Looking back on the occasion now, the public had already begun to challenge martial law through growing opposition and street protests in the 1980s. The lifting of martial law by former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in 1987 was a response to inevitable social changes.

Japan warns over cosying to China

Taipei Times

Taiwan should not be overly close to China, so as to maintain the balance of power in the East Asia region, Japanese Diet members were quoted as saying during a recent meeting with visiting Taiwanese lawmakers on issues pertaining to the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台列嶼).

Taiwan, China and Japan all claim sovereignty over the islets, known in Japan as the Senkaku islands and the Diaoyu Isalnds (釣魚群島) in Chinese.

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