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Chen urges public to safeguard the nation's dignity

Thanks to a campaign of pressure from local Internet users, the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) has changed Taiwan's listing on its global database from "Taiwan, Province of China" to "Taiwan," President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said in the latest edition of his A-bian E-newsletter.

"Due to China's unceasing suppression of our international presence, similar scenarios will keep on cropping up," Chen said.

"It is not enough to rely solely on the government to solve such problems. A-bian truly hopes that the public assists the government in keeping a close eye on similar occurrences in a bid to safeguard the dignity of Taiwan," the president said.

Citing two recent examples, Chen said the international community has consistently mistakenly considered Taiwan to be a province of China because of Beijing's unreasonable political interference.

In last November's issue the US magazine Science listed Taiwan as an area affected by H5N1 avian flu strain because it considers Taiwan as a province of China, Chen said.

And last month the WHO mistakenly included Taiwan in a list of countries affected by the H5N1 strain on four global and country maps posted on its official Web site.

In addition to a letter campaign voluntarily launched by the public to lodge their protests with the WHO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs swiftly filed a formal complaint with the WHO headquarters in Geneva, demanding an immediate correction.

The WHO later changed the color of Taiwan to indicate the nation's H5N1-free status.

To push the ISSG to change Taiwan's status in its global invasive species database, local Internet users also launched a campaign, sending e-mails to the organization protesting the mistake.

According to the ISSG Web site, the database was developed by the ISSG as part of the global initiative on invasive species led by the Global Invasive Species Program.

The database focuses on invasive species that threaten biodiversity and covers all taxonomic groups from micro-organisms to animals and plants.

The ISSG is part of the Species Survival Commission of The World Conservation Union.

Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the ISSG a global group of 146 scientific and policy experts on invasive species from 41 countries.

Membership in the group is by invitation from the group chair, but everyone's participation in the discussion on invasive species is encouraged.
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