Alice Ou does not bite her tongue when it comes to criticizing Taiwan's educational authorities. She has accused them of turning young people into "moral dwarfs and historical idiots." She claims the government's actions amount to "self-castration." Ou, a Chinese literature teacher at the prestigious Taipei First Girls' High School, is angry that the state has reduced the number of Chinese classical texts recommended in the high school curriculum. She believes this is an attempt to "desine" the students.
Ou's opinion, first expressed at a press conference in early December, has gone viral. It has quickly become part of a narrative promoted by the Chinese government and opposition parties in Taiwan. Both accuse Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which takes a defiant stance toward China, of trying to eradicate Chinese culture. The message comes as Taiwan prepares to hold presidential elections on January 13. The result of these elections could mean a big change in Taiwan's position towards China, which considers the island as part of its territory.
In China, in the two weeks after Ou came into the spotlight, state-affiliated media and social media published more than 200 articles about his comments, according to the Information Environment Research Center. from Taiwan. "Hear the cry of pain and rage from Taiwan's education sector," Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, published in an illustrative article. Ma Ying-jeou, former Taiwanese president and elder statesman of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, has praised Ou's "moral courage."
However, the indignation is fallacious, and it also arrives a little late. The secondary school curriculum guidelines at issue were introduced in 2019. They did not restrict the teaching of classical Chinese, but did reduce the mandatory content of Chinese language textbooks. A list of suggested readings on the subject was cut in half and diversified with the inclusion of women and Taiwanese writers. According to Lan Wei-ying, an education expert, the measure was part of a broader reform that began in the 1990s and aimed to give teachers and schools greater freedom in designing their curricula. Many teachers say the changes have increased their workload, although they broadly support the guidelines. Few talk about desinization.
Ou remains firm in his criticism. "Taiwanese culture is Chinese culture," he says, noting that Taiwan has preserved in its "purest form" a shared heritage that on the mainland was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. He accuses the PDP of undermining young people's confidence in their culture: "They will end up thinking that everything about us is backward and that our values must come from the West." In this he agrees with Xi Jinping's "Culture Thought", the latest delivery of the Chinese leader's philosophy, which advocates "cultural self-confidence" and seeks to diminish Western influences.
Ou admits that he is speaking out now due to the proximity of the election in the hope of drawing more attention to his cause. He doesn't care if the Chinese Communist Party or Taiwanese opposition candidates take advantage of his criticism, as long as the result is changes to the curriculum. He dismisses questions about China's propaganda efforts or the possibility of Taiwan's democracy being threatened. Political systems come and go with the tides of history, he says, and the laobaixing, ordinary people, have no control over it. "What we can hold on to is our culture. As for political systems, they go with the flow."
Such views are not uncommon among older conservative voters who grew up during the authoritarian rule of the KMT, between 1949 and 1987. The party, which lost the Chinese civil war, continued to instill a sense of Chinese identity in residents of the island. However, that feeling has been waning for years. Today, less than 3% of Taiwanese identify solely as Chinese, while around 30% identify as both Chinese and Taiwanese. More than 60% say they are only Taiwanese. So the messaging around Ou is likely to have a limited impact on the election. At best, they can help shore up the KMT's nationalist base.
Perhaps China is thinking beyond the elections. Although Xi claims that his goal is peaceful unification, the Communist Party's propaganda seems to justify a possible invasion. He presents the PDP as a radical separatist group that is imposing an anti-China agenda on Taiwan against the wishes of its people. If China intervenes, it wants to be seen as a liberator, not an invader. And, if you can use Taiwanese voices to deliver that image, all the better.
© 2023 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. Translation: Juan Gabriel López Guix
