Police say that they have arrested 33 protestors for intruding into the Education Ministry building. They also say that 18 people broke into the education minister’s office late Thursday night.
The protestors demanded that the government drop the revision of high school curriculum guidelines. Protestors say the textbooks are presented from the perspective of unification with China.
More than 200 people began an overnight protest from Wednesday afternoon. Saying that their demands have yet to be met, the protestors gathered again late Thursday. As of 2:30am Friday, about 200 people were still confronting police near the Ministry of Education. They asked for the release for the arrested.
Earlier this year, an administrative court ruled that the adjustment of high school curriculum guidelines violated the law because it did not follow due process.
This is after the education ministry refused to disclose the list of members who approved the adjustment and minutes of meetings. Opponents called on the education ministry to retract the controversial textbook guidelines, but the ministry refused, saying only that the contents considered controversial will not appear in national exams.
In a press conference on Friday, Education Minister Wu Se-hwa said the ministry will press charges against the intruders.
"Our tolerance has been met with irrational behavior. This kind of behavior is severely out of line and sets a bad example. This is why we’ve decided to take legal action," Wu said.
Of the 33 people arrested, 24 are students and three are journalists. 11 students who are minors have since been released.