Taiwan eyes editing China from textbooks

Taiwan plans to revise school textbooks to drop references that recognize Chinese historical figures, places and artifacts as ''national,'' an official said Sunday.

The announcement is the latest in a series of moves by the island in the past few months to assert its sovereignty as President Chen Shui-bian's final term in office winds down.

Pan Wen-chung, an Education Ministry official, said authorities are considering dropping about 5,000 ''inappropriate'' references in Taiwanese textbooks to help ''clear up confusion'' about the island's identity.

Pan did not elaborate on the proposed changes. However, local media said the revisions would include changing ''national opera'' to ''Chinese opera,'' ''the Ming Dynasty'' to ''China's Ming Dynasty,'' and ''this nation's historical figures'' to ''China's historical figures.''

The textbook changes are in line with the current thinking of Chen's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which favors Taiwanese independence and opposes identification with China, from which the island split amid civil war in 1949.