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Embassies add `Taiwan' to old brass name plates

Many of the nation's embassies in Latin America have had their brass name plates changed to add the word "Taiwan" in parentheses to the Republic of China (ROC), underscoring the identity of the country and avoiding confusion with China.

Taiwan maintains formal diplomatic relations with 12 countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Only a few of its embassies in the regions have not yet had their brass name plates replaced.

Among these are embassies in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.

Besides its embassies, the nation's affiliated agencies, such as the representative offices of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense and the Government Information Office, have also had their name plates changed to include the word "Taiwan."

Nevertheless, the new name plates are not completely identical in content or specification: some embassy name plates bear the ROC's national emblem, several others do not.

The embassy in Nicaragua has a national emblem on its new name plate, Ambassador Hung Ming-ta (洪明達) said in a telephone interview. He added that the emblem on the new plate was even larger than that on the old one. The new name plates of the embassies in Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize also carry the ROC's national emblem.

In contrast, the national emblem has been omitted from the new name plates of the embassies in Panama and Paraguay.

Ambassador to Paraguay David Hu (胡正堯) said that the new name plates were sent to embassies in the regions by government authorities in Taipei. Hu said he didn't know the reasons for the discrepancies between the content of embassy name plates in different countries.
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