Several of the nation’s embassies and representative offices have updated their Facebook pages, adding “Taiwan” to their names and profile pictures to promote the nation.
The name change was advised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle changed the name of its Facebook page to “Taiwan in Seattle” and uploaded a new profile picture featuring an illustration of Taiwan proper with the word “Taiwan” on it.
Image copied from the Facebook timeline of the Taiwan Representative Office in the EU and Belgium
Representative offices that have changed their Facebook names include those in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Sao Paulo, Vancouver, Peru, Chile, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Indonesia and Naha, Japan.
The nation’s representative offices in Denver, Brussels, Geneva and Palau also changed their names and uploaded the same profile picture.
Those that have announced a name change, but have yet to do so include the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles and the Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands.
Since opening a Facebook account in July last year, the ministry has encouraged embassies and representative offices to set up Facebook accounts, said Henry Chen (陳銘政), head of the Department of International Information Services.
Of the more than 100 embassies and representative offices, 54 have a Facebook page, he added.
The pages previously adopted different nomenclatures and profile pictures, which in some cases made it difficult to tell whether the offices represented Taiwan, Chen said.
As a result, the ministry last month advised them to use the same name format and profile picture, he said, adding that the name “Taiwan” is more direct and clear than “Taipei office.”
The Department of International Information Services offered the advise, but did not require the offices to adopt them, he added.
Asked whether the name change was suggested with any political intentions in mind, especially after a referendum to rename the national sports team was rejected on Nov. 24, Chen said that was not the case.
The goal was simply to ensure that the offices have a consistent image and to allow visitors to immediately know that they represent Taiwan.
The ministry decided to promote the name change on Facebook first, because it is the main social media platform used by Taiwanese embassies and representative offices, he said, adding that only some of them are on Twitter.
The Facebook pages of the nation’s embassies and representative offices have more than 100,000 followers and are viewed more than 1 million times every month, Chen said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique