HUMAN RIGHTS CHAMPION:National Alliance of Parents’ Organizations president Wu Fu-pin said the freedom of speech Taiwanese enjoy is the legacy of Deng Nan-jung
Taipei Times
Date: May 11, 2015
By: Rachel Lin and Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The National Academy of Educational Research (NAER) on Saturday displayed
Old, left, and new versions of a civic studies textbook published by Kansi Cultural Co are shown at a textbook exhibition in Taipei on Saturday. An image of late democracy activist Deng Nan-jung appears in the old edition, but not in the new edition. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
six major publishers’ latest textbooks revised according to the recently adjusted high-school curriculum guidelines. Among them one publisher was found to have deleted portions from an entry about democracy movement pioneer Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕).
Deng died 26 years ago when he set himself on fire in defense of “100 percent freedom of expression.” On April 7, 1989, Deng, then-editor-in-chief of Freedom Era Weekly, set himself alight as heavily armed police officers attempted to break into his office following 71 days of self-imposed isolation after he was charged with sedition for the anti-government stance of his magazine after it published a draft “Republic of Taiwan Constitution” in 1988.
Textbook publisher Kansi Cultural Co in its previous edition of a civic studies textbook, under the “Human Rights” chapter, had a photograph of a copy of Freedom Era Weekly with a caption reading: “Deng Nan-jung resorted to radical self-immolation to fight for freedom of speech. The photograph is the [weekly’s] special edition to mark the 20th anniversary of Deng’s death.” [FULL STORY]
