Another change is that the new textbook has condensed ancient Chinese history but included a part on Taiwan-China separation.

This part reads: "Taiwan's future remains a big question mark. Will Taiwan independence bring war? How to protect Taiwan from being swallowed? How to maintain the status quo? How to deal with China? Taiwan people are frustrated."

Some Taiwan teachers are opposed to the revisions in the high-school history textbook.

"In the compilation of the history textbook, there was strong political intervention from the government, and only one voice was allowed. This is control by the state machine," the China Times quoted Wu Chan-liang, head of the history department of the National Taiwan University, as saying.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 when the Chinese Nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War and fled to Taiwan to set up their government-in-exile. Until the 1980s, the Taiwan government called itself the legitimate ruler of both Taiwan and China and dreamed of recovering the mainland.

Since Chen Shui-bian, an independence-leaning Taiwan native, won the presidential election in 2000, he has advocated Taiwan as a sovereign country and not part of China.

China has warned that it would recover Taiwan by force if the latter declares independence or takes concrete steps to achieve de facto independence. 

DPA News of Jan 29, 2007

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