Protest groups face off in Taiwan over curriculum controversy

More than 1,000 supporters of student movement turn out after infamous Taiwan triad leader Chang An-lo, who has called for unification with the mainland, leads rival rally

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 06 August, 2015, 11:38am

UPDATED : Thursday, 06 August, 2015, 11:39am

Pro-China activist Chang An-lo, a former triad boss also known as "White Wolf", takes part in a protest on Wednesday against students occupying the entrance to Taiwan's Ministry of Education in Taipei. Photo: Reuters

More than a thousand protesters from rival groups rallied in Taiwan’s capital on Wednesday night with the triad-leader-turned-politician, “White Wolf”, heading an anti-student demonstration.

At least 100 students have been camped out at the education ministry in Taipei for six days to protest over controversial changes to the high school curriculum they say favour China’s view of the island’s history.

It comes as public concern is growing, especially among the young, at a perceived increase in mainland China’s influence over the island.

This comes in the wake of a rapprochement with Beijing forged by current President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) party.

Smaller protests have been taking place for months, but escalated after the suicide last week of a student activist who opposed the curriculum, with hundreds storming the ministry compound on Friday.

More than 1,000 supporters of the student movement turned out on Wednesday night after the infamous Taiwan triad leader Chang An-lo, known as “White Wolf”, who has called for unification with the mainland, announced he would lead a rival demonstration.

Chang was imprisoned for 10 years in the United States for drug trafficking and then lived in exile for 17 years on the mainland before returning to Taiwan in 2013.

He now leads a small pro-unification party.

Hundreds of pro-unification protesters wearing black vests gathered opposite the ministry, with barbed wire and lines of police, many with batons and riot shields, separating the two groups.

Chang addressed the crowd from a makeshift stage, lambasting textbooks introduced by former pro-Japan presidents.

The curriculum changes disputed by protesters include the 50-year period of Japanese rule being referred to as an era when “Japan occupied” the island, replacing the previous phrase “Japan governed”.

“Young people nowadays have forgotten their roots and where their ancestors came from,” Chang said through a loud speaker, against a backdrop of patriotic songs.

In an interview with reporters earlier, he claimed that previous textbooks had “poisonously educated our children”.

Pro-independence supporters joined the students, waving flags and shouting: “Chang An-lo, coward!”

Police said Chang’s group numbered around 400, with 1,100 on the student side.

Chang’s group dispersed after just over an hour following repeated police warnings that their protest was illegal.

However, students that have camped out in the compound have vowed to stay despite a government promise to review the new curriculum.

“Our appeal remains unchanged – that’s retracting the curriculum, or at least temporarily halting it, and the minister must step down to shoulder responsibility,” Yin Ruo-yu, a student leader, told reporters on Wednesday.

Self-governing Taiwan split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war. But Beijing still sees the island as part of its territory and does not rule out force to achieve reunification at some stage.

Students occupied parliament for three weeks last year over a trade deal with the mainland in a protest known as the “sunflower” movement, inspiring a new generation of activists.

Chang also led a rival protest at that time, leading to clashes with student supporters.

《天下》雜誌最新民調指出，民進黨總統參選人蔡英文以41.9%的支持度，大幅領先國民黨參選人洪秀柱的16.7%，兩人差距多達25.2個百分點。有網友說，「太殘忍了，這樣的民調讓9.2崩潰痛哭」。
洪秀柱台東花蓮金門連江4縣 "大贏"蔡英文...

網友莊財琳說，「台灣未來再怎麼差也不會比現在差，總統未來再怎麼爛也不會比現在爛」。網友Jason Hsu則反諷，「如果民調題目是『是否支持洪擔任KMT的候選人』，我想民調就會很高，46%」。

但網友蔡宗字認為，「有贏那麼多嗎？宋主席還沒出手」。網友Yea Wen Na也說，「坦然真誠的人才是最後的勝利者、善用手段模糊焦點的人終舊會被拋棄、一切上天自有安排！」網友葉天更說，「41.9%只是綠的基本盤，洪秀柱的盤還待努力催出！國民黨幾乎已經趴在地上，基本盤並沒移向蔡英文，洪秀柱後勁不容小覷！辯論會上孰強孰弱，孰行孰不行？馬上立竿見勝負！」

該份民調「不投票／投廢票」以及「未決定／不知道」的人數共有38%，網友藍庫薄就說，「兩人兩黨爛，我棄權，我不相信民調高的蔡英文有能力搞好台灣經濟、台灣秩序」。

(更新黃大維說法）

爲解決課綱爭議，傳出台北市長柯文哲傍晚親自與反課綱行動的幾位核心學生見面溝通，希望明天能收拾物品暫時撤離教育部，北市府副發言人黃大維晚間證實，柯文哲傍晚前往北社與反課綱學生幹部面談，柯向學生表示，明日可能發出海陸颱風警報，北市府非常擔憂抗爭學生與基層員警的安全，希望學生能於颱風期間撤離，但也尊重學生運動的自主性。

黃大維說，柯向學生再次說明了北市府目前對於課綱的態度，今年4月教育局已清楚表明立場，課綱微調法律爭議未解之前，北市府決定採用原版課綱，已行文給北市各級學校採用原版課綱的教科書，然選用教科書權利是屬各級學校權責，若學校選擇新版課綱的教科書，教育局也會尊重。此外，教育局也依據立法院朝野協商給教育部的建議行文各校，北市各高中得重新辦理教科書評選，如變更原決議，教育局將協助負擔履約補償。

柯幕僚透露，學生代表要求柯P處理北市教育局長湯志民，對之前課綱的爭議，要湯出面解釋或道歉，但柯未答應，這場會面雙方各自表述，都未答應對方的要求。

《蘋果》詢問反課綱學生代表、台中一中蘋果樹公社發言人陳建勳，學生們是否有跟柯文哲碰面，陳建勳表示「完全沒有」。（陳思豪、唐鎮宇/台北報導）

晚上約7點5分從紀念堂走到教育部---應從臺大醫院站比較快。
教育部牆內是反課綱學生本營：閃靈樂團音樂會 (兩面"台灣魂"旗子15分才來會合：他們兩方叫陣之擴音器歌聲下，無法開唱......

我與白狼有約：去年愚人節王志堅的Over My Body也是他今晚向學生致敬的結語。

白狼張安樂揚言今晚要率眾到教育部前，先前在太陽花學運期間，曾對張安樂嗆「Over my dead body」的台北市議員王世堅今晚也到教育部前挺學生，再次以名言嗆聲，他強調，要打要殺是成人的事情，白狼不要來汙染這些學生，「只要我王世堅在的一天，我跟白狼要說，你要踏進我們這一塊園地，你必須踏過我的屍體，over my dead body啦！」
王世堅說，他原本不想到教育部前面，但因為白狼要來了，所以他要奉陪到底。他希望白狼夠膽的話，就一個人到場，要打要殺都是成人的事情，台灣只剩下尊嚴和自由不能賣，他支持學生。

山外買Thoma Mann文集：哥德與托爾斯泰全譯本，浙江大學，2013

遇到賴鼎銘

台聯立委賴振昌、台聯青年軍--約20名--已經準備好迎接白狼，保護反黑箱課綱學生！

整個教育部前歌唱場、中山南路兩側對嗆場，人聲吵雜，近千人，各找各的位置。只有一處是學堂：臺大歷史系教授周婉窈跟廿來位原住民女學生懇談--談什麼我不太清楚，主持人陶醉於8月1日的原住民節很有感觸，大發揮......。我認識周教授，所以不宜干擾她，就過馬路，直奔白狼邊......有位女高中生或許是初見構造尖銳的雙重鐵絲網，一直近照它們.....

白狼滔滔我不怕！張起歌喉大聲唱！

聽說執政的馬英九只能靠中國與黑道出手欺負台灣人，今晚還要派白狼去「路過」教育部，台灣可愛的孩子要邀請【閃靈樂團】用音樂的力量唱響反黑箱課綱愛的力量！

歡迎大家用音樂守護台灣的孩子們，今晚 7:30 一起到教育部前聽這場講唱會吧！台聯立委賴振昌、台聯青年軍也將到場參與這場盛會！！

⋯⋯更多

反課綱學生持續佔領教育部前庭，晚間8時左右支持反課綱的閃靈樂團現身演出，現場吸引5、6百名民眾到場響應並合唱。主唱Freddy說，明天颱風就要來，如果學生決定要留下來，他們也會跟大家一起。

閃靈樂團主唱Freddy說，閃靈很少在社運場合表演，因為對器材要求很龜毛，先前已經婉拒過一次來反課綱場合演出；但他說，如果透過演唱能吸引更多人來聆聽、支持學生，那這是值得的事。

Freddy說，他很佩服這群學生，做了當年他沒有做的事情，「這群學生才是我的偶像」！

由於同時段白狼張安樂也在教育部對面號召群眾「路過」，Freddy也暗批白狼是「皇軍」，要大家跟著一起唱大聲一點。

對於學生是否退場，Freddy說，明天颱風就要來，大家都在關鍵的崗位上努力，「如果學生決定因安全考量要撤離，我們也不會覺得沒什麼事都沒達到，對吧？」「如果學生決定要留下來，我們也會繼續跟大家在一起！」閃靈樂團隨後以不插電形式演唱3首歌。（唐鎮宇／台北報導）