PAST GLORIES?The anthem’s lyrics have been criticized by teachers and students who question how they fit with the trend toward transitional justice

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 26, 2017
By: Wu Po-hsuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

An announcement on Friday by a National Chengchi University (NCCU) committee that changes to the school’s unpopular politically charged anthem would need to wait until September drew fire from student protesters.

The school was founded in 1927 in Nanjing as the then-Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central School of Party Affairs to train party cadres, which is still reflected in its anthem lyrics. Protesters said that incoming students would refuse to sing the anthem until the lyrics have been changed.

Reflecting the political atmosphere in China at the time of the school’s founding, the lyrics play on themes such as revolution, shared party membership and the Three Principles of the People espoused by Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙).

The lyrics have in past years frequently become the subject of discussion among teachers and students who question how they fit into the nation’s trend toward transitional justice.    [FULL  STORY]