MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Hundreds of Taiwanese students gathered at the Ministry of Education in the capital Taipei early on Friday, protesting planned high school curriculum guideline changes, The Diplomat reports.
According to the magazine, about 200 protesters occupied the area by the entrance to the ministry, launching an overnight sit-in and demanding that Education Minister Wu resign.
The disputed history textbook guidelines concern terminology used in reference to Japan’s 50-year occupation of Taiwan and China’s subsequent rule over the island. The activists claim that China is exerting greater influence over Taiwan, forcing it to adopt phrasings that make China’s rule appear more benevolent.
On Thursday, former 20-year-old student Lin Kuan-hua, who was the activists’ spokesman, committed suicide on his birthday in Taipei.
On Friday, about 200 activists held a candlelit vigil for Lin, before their number increased to 800 and they pulled down the police barricades at the Education Ministry, The Diplomat said.
Police had been ordered not to evict the activists.
Taiwan became self-governed in the 1940s after a civil war but China still considers it part of its territory.
