Political atmosphere spells trouble for literature teacher in Taiwan

In my Hong Kong secondary school, I didn't excel in Chinese. In fact, I struggled in most subjects, including English. While I don't regret forgetting chemistry or algebra, I wish I had a stronger foundation in Chinese. This would have allowed me to read classic Chinese literature without needing translations.

I share this to provide context for my support of Alice Ou, a high school Chinese literature teacher from Taipei. She has found herself embroiled in a political controversy. Her transgression? She suggested to the island's Legislative Yuan that schools should reintroduce some classic texts that were recently removed from the curriculum. She argued that the 2019 curriculum guidelines problematically downplayed classical Chinese and made education less Chinese-centric.

You might wonder why this is a significant issue. It's a reasonable stance for a Chinese literature teacher to take. You might agree or disagree with her. However, as a mere teacher, her opinion might not carry much weight in educational policy discussions. Yet, she has found herself in a predicament. Major media outlets have criticized her for attempting to indoctrinate students. Politicians from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and other pro-independence parties have denounced her. The Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate, who is friendly towards Beijing, was questioned about her by reporters. A former president had to defend her, asserting that the debate was about culture and language, not politics.