ALICE WHERE TO DO does not mince his words when criticizing Taiwan’s education officials. She accused them of transforming young people into “moral dwarfs and historical idiots”. According to her, the government’s actions amount to “self-castration”. Ms. Ou, a Chinese literature teacher at the prestigious Taipei Girls’ High School, is unhappy that the state has reduced the number of classical Chinese texts recommended in the high school curriculum. She believes this is an effort to “de-Initize” students.
Ms. Ou’s opinion, first aired at a press conference in early December, went viral. This idea quickly became part of a discourse defended by the Chinese government and Taiwanese opposition parties. Both blame Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which adopts a defiant stance towards China, attempts to eradicate Chinese culture. The message comes as Taiwan prepares for a presidential election on January 13. The outcome could lead to a major shift in Taiwan’s stance toward China, which considers the island part of its territory.
In the two weeks since Ms. Ou came into the spotlight, Chinese state-affiliated media and social networks have published more than 200 articles about her comments, according to China’s Environmental Research Center. Taiwan information. “Listen to the cry of sadness and anger from Taiwan’s education sector,” Xinhua, China’s state news agency, said in an informative article. Ma Ying-jeou, former Taiwanese president and statesman of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), praised Ms. Ou’s “moral courage.”
The outrage, however, is misleading – and a little late. The secondary school curriculum guidelines under review were introduced in 2019. They do not restrict the teaching of classical Chinese. But they have effectively reduced the required amount in high school Chinese textbooks. The list of suggested readings on the subject has been cut in half and made more diverse, including female and Taiwanese writers. It was part of a broader reform effort, launched in the 1990s, aimed at giving teachers and schools more freedom to shape their curricula, says Lan Wei-ying, an education expert. Many teachers say the changes have increased their workload, but they remain largely supportive of the guidelines. Few people talk about desinization.
Ms. Ou maintains her criticism. “Taiwanese culture is Chinese culture,” she said, emphasizing that Taiwan preserved this common heritage in its “purest form” even though it was destroyed on the mainland during the Cultural Revolution. She accuses the DPP to undermine young people’s confidence in their culture: “They will think that everything about us is retrograde and that our values must come from the West. » This echoes Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, the final strand of the Chinese leader’s philosophy. It advocates “cultural self-confidence” and aims to reduce Western influences.
Ou admits she is speaking out now because of the upcoming election, hoping to draw more attention to her cause. She doesn’t mind the Chinese Communist Party or opposition candidates in Taiwan taking advantage of her comments, as long as it leads to changes in the school curriculum. She ignores questions about China’s propaganda efforts or the threat to Taiwan’s democracy. Political systems come and go with the tides of history, she says, and laobaixingOrdinary people have no control over this. “What we can hold on to is our culture. As for political systems, go with the flow.
Such views are not uncommon among older conservative voters that have been raised on the campaign trail. KMTauthoritarian rule from 1949 to 1987. The party, which lost China’s civil war, continued to instill a sense of Chinese identity among the island’s residents. But over the years, the atmosphere has changed. Today, less than 3% of Taiwanese identify only as Chinese, while around 30% identify as both Chinese and Taiwanese. More than 60% identify as Taiwanese only. Messages around Ms. Ou will therefore likely have a limited impact on the elections. At most, it can help consolidate the KMTnationalist base.
China may be looking beyond the vote. Although Mr. Xi claims to aim for peaceful unification, Communist Party propaganda appears to justify a possible invasion. It depicts the DPP as a radical separatist group that imposes an anti-China agenda on Taiwan against the wishes of its people. If China intervenes, it wants to be seen as a liberator and not an invader. If he can use Taiwanese voices to paint this picture, so much the better. ■