TSU legislators yesterday demanded the Ministry of the Interior correct the name of China's territory from Republic of China (ROC) to People's Republic of China (PRC) on the ministry's official world map.
The legislators say the move will recognize the reality that the territory of China belongs to the PRC.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
TSU Legislator Liao Pen-yen (
Given that society is calling on the government to change the nation's name from the ROC to Taiwan, Liao said, the government should recognize the PRC and that it governs China.
TSU lawmakers yesterday called a press conference to display various versions of world maps issued by the government and private publishers.
TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming (
However, Chen said, the official world map the ministry issues still includes China and Mongolia as territories belonging to the ROC, while some private maps fail to point out that the PRC claims the current territory of China.
"Since we all agree that Taiwan is a sovereign state controlling the island of Taiwan, as well as Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, we should recognize this fact and change the name of the Chinese territory from ROC to PRC so as to realize the `one country on each side' of the Taiwan Strait formula proposed by President Chen Shui-bian (
"To label Chinese territory the ROC is a lie to the world. Most countries recognize the national title of China as PRC. Therefore, the ministry should be more observant of the international reality in making the map," Liao said.
"The TSU demands the Ministry of the Interior make the correction immediately so as not to make [the country] a joke internationally," he said.
"The issuance of the new passports with the word `Taiwan' on the cover is a good example to realize the `one country on each side' remark by President Chen Shui-bian. However, there are still a lot of areas where we need to make corrections in order to reflect Taiwan's independence and separate identity from China," Liao said.
The lawmaker said, for example, that ROC stamps should be called Taiwan stamps and that the "China" part of names of state-run enterprises such as China Steel, China Shipbuilding and China Airlines should be replaced with "Taiwan."
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