Textbooks to specify absence of 'Taiwan' in U.N. resolution: National academy

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Taiwan's school textbook regulator has called on publishers to specify that a United Nations resolution, which led to the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) leaving the multilateral body, does not mention Taiwan.

Textbooks should present the texts of U.N. Resolution 2758 in both Chinese and English and specify there is no mention of the Republic of China or Taiwan in the document, according to the National Academy for Educational Research.

Speaking with CNA, the academy's Vice President Yen Chin-hsiang (顏慶祥) said the academy, curriculum developers and textbook publishers agreed in a meeting on Wednesday that presenting the U.N. resolution in this way would benefit students' understanding of the historical facts.

Such calls were advice, Yen said, adding that the academy was not requiring publishers to make changes accordingly.

Nevertheless, the academy's President Lin Chung-i (林從一) has said textbooks must not remain unchanged and oftentimes, their content should "respond to academic developments, students' learning needs, and the concerns of different sectors across society."

Lin added that it was the National Academy for Educational Research's responsibility to ensure the quality of textbook content, referring to the academy's role of reviewing school textbooks.

The U.N. resolution, passed by the 1971 General Assembly, recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) as "the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations" and confirmed the expulsion of "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" from the U.N.

The resolution addressed the issue of China's representation at the U.N., resulting in representatives from the PRC replacing those from the ROC.

Beijing claims that the U.N. resolution "confirmed" its "one China principle," which asserts there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is "an inalienable part of China."

Taipei rejects such claims, saying the U.N. resolution does not mention Taiwan or address Taiwan's political status.

In addition to the Cairo Declaration, junior high school textbooks should also include the Treaty of San Francisco and the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty, according to the academy.

Yen said it was "simplified" for current textbooks to say that under the Cairo Declaration, Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu were returned to the ROC and that this characterization might "mislead" students into thinking that "the future of Taiwan" was determined by "a few political figures."

The declaration followed the 1943 meeting in Cairo, Egypt, between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and ROC leader Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).

Yen said that by the time the declaration was signed, World War II was not over yet, and there remained debates in academia over whether the document carries binding force.

According to Yen, the academy considers it appropriate to include the other two treaties signed after the war to illustrate how Japan, which colonized Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, "relinquished all rights to Taiwan, Penghu, Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands."

Providing students with a comprehensive timeline helps them better understand Taiwan's post-war status, he said, adding that the discussions to change the textbook content had been suggested by scholars since last year.