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China bans Taiwan game for violating 'one Chian'

A Taiwan-made game called Run Around the World (繞著地球跑) has been banned in Hangzhou, a city in Zhejiang Province, China, for violating the "one China" policy.

The Monopoly-type board game for children, which has a picture of a Republic of China passport printed on its cover, was made by Taiwan's Little Giant Stationary Co (巨門文具).

In the game, players can visit cities around the world, including Taipei and Beijing, using an ROC passport.

Following a recent claim by Chinese media that it violated the "one China" policy, authorities in Beijing banned the game, Chinese media quoted local retailers as saying.

But a spokesman from Little Giant said they were unaware the game was even being sold in China as they had never marketed it there.

A manager at Little Giant surnamed Wang said that the com-pany manufactured the game five or six years ago but never intended to sell it outside Taiwan.

She added that Little Giant didn't have any stock listed in Taiwan.

She said she was surprised that the game was currently being sold in China but more surprised that a children's board game was becoming involved in cross-strait politics.

Wang said she hadn't intended to instigate any political problems and added that Little Giant has never even invested in China.

"But if the news has made the game so popular, why not design another version with passports for both sides of the Taiwan Strait?" she said jokingly.

"We can have a version called `One China, with each side having their own interpretation' (一個中國, 各自表述) ... it'd be fun!"

Wang said she had almost forgotten the company once sold the game until China's reaction pushed it into the spotlight.

When told the game sold in Hangzhou for 15 renminbi, Wang said it was a "pretty fair price."
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