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Globe producer closes over label

A Japanese company that produces the "Smart Globe," on which Taiwan is shown as part of China, will be closed down by the end of March in a further effort to apologize for its mistake, according to a statement released on Thursday on the company's Web site.

Tokyo-based Gakken Toys Co said in the statement that the manufacturing of the globes, which were sold as educational material, was the result of "a lack of sound consideration" and had triggered widespread criticism.

The statement also indicated that the company's parent, Gakken Co, will begin to accept returns of the globe from April 1.

The "Smart Globe," -- priced at ¥28,000 (US$262) -- shows Taiwan as an island under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China.

The globe's audio guidance system also described Taiwan's head of state as Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and said Taiwan uses the Chinese yuan, rather than the new Taiwan dollar, as currency.

Gakken Toys Co offered a public apology on Jan. 10 following strong condemnation from the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun and Japanese scholars for bowing to Chinese pressure and for "hurting the Taiwanese peoples' feelings."

The company said it had already suspended sales of the globes.

Meanwhile, two other Ja-panese companies, TakaraTomy and Yanoman, which also labeled Taiwan as a territory of China on their globes, have also apologized publicly and announced compensation measures.

All three companies explained that they had manufactured their globes in China and that the Chinese government had forced them to show Taiwan as belonging to China, threatening to bar the products from being exported to Japan if they did not comply.

Chu Wen-ching (朱文清), the information division chief at Taiwan's representative office in Japan, sent a written protest to Gakken Toys over the product, demanding that the company apologize to consumers and correct the error.
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