Print

Mail

wiki links

Foreign ministry: name is "Taiwan"

Foreign Minister Mark Chen (陳唐山) yesterday confirmed the ministry's decision to simplify the nation's name, saying Taiwan's formal title remains ROC, but its simplified title is now Taiwan.

"I hope we can use Taiwan as much as possible. The Foreign Ministry will discuss what we will call ourselves in official documents," Chen told reporters.

"But in our contacts with countries that don't recognize us, it is more appropriate to use Taiwan," he said.

According to a local newspaper yesterday, to avoid confusion with China and to simplify its name, the official title of "ROC" will gradually be replaced with the title "Taiwan."

"In response to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) remark that the simplified name for the nation is `Taiwan,' the Foreign Ministry has called an emergency meeting and decided to use `Taiwan' as the first choice in international contacts," a Chinese-language newspaper said.

"In future, `ROC' will only be used in documents signed between Taiwan and its diplomatic allies. In documents with countries that don't recognize Taiwan and with international organizations, we will seek to use the name `Taiwan,'" the paper quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶隆) as saying.

Depending on who and where you are, the island of Taiwan could be referred to by one of at least 14 names. Called the Republic of China (ROC) since 1949 when the Chinese Nationalists launched its government in exile after losing China to the communists, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government would like to see a return to the use of Taiwan.

After the UN expelled the ROC and recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1971, Taiwan has increasingly found the name ROC troublesome because it indicates Taiwan is part of China and foreigners often mistake ROC for PRC.

Currently, Taiwan's formal title remains the ROC, with its embassies at 26 diplomatic allied countries reflecting that name, but informal titles such as "Chinese Taipei" have been used to join UN-related organizations, the International Olympic Committee and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. In the Asian Development Bank, Taiwan is called "Taipei, China."

In 2002, Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization under the name of Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (acronym TPKM -- Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu are offshore islets of Taiwan), and it is seeking to join the World Health Organization under a name yet to be decided.

In countries which do not recognize Taiwan, unofficial missions use ambiguous names like Coordination Council for North American Affairs -- as it is officially known in the US.

As China is increasing its isolation of Taiwan in the international arena, recent public opinion polls have shown that an increasing number Taiwanese want to change Taiwan's formal tile from "ROC" to "Taiwan" to reflect the nation's sovereignty and avoid ROC being mistaken for PRC by foreign countries.
This story has been viewed 3761 times.