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Presidential greeting card shows controversial map

The inside of a greeting card distributed by the Presidential Office shows Taiwan’s north end pointing to the west.

The Presidential Office yesterday urged legislators not to politicize a map of Taiwan that was included in its holiday greeting cards.

Showing a copy of the card to reporters at the Presidential Office, public relations director Eddy Tsai (蔡仲禮) said designers selected the images on the cover and inside from pieces at the National Palace Museum.

The cover of the greeting card has a painting of a peony, a flower that traditionally symbolizes wealth. A historical map of Taiwan was printed inside. The card features greetings in Chinese and more than a dozen other languages, and was signed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青).

The map had stirred controversy when former minister of education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) included it in pamphlets describing Ministry of Education policies.

Tu was criticized by the pan-blue camp for using the map, which depicts the north end of the country on the left, which some said put Taiwan “above” China.

KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said yesterday that using the image was a silly idea.

“The map had roused a lot of controversy in the legislature. How can we teach children how to read maps? It was absolutely wrong that we use that map,” Hung said.

“If Ma chose the design, he was really silly,” she said. “And if Ma didn’t know about it, his staff members should find out if there are still any ‘green spies’ working in the Presidential Office and scheming to set up Ma.”

Tsai dismissed the fuss.

“President Ma looked at a lot of ancient maps of Taiwan in the past while researching the Diaoyutai (釣魚台) issue, and it’s normal that there are vertical and horizontal versions of the maps. It’s unnecessary to interpret it so politically,” he said.

KMT legislators Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) and Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) also disagreed with Hung.

“[That Taiwan is rotated 90 degrees] is not a big deal. When we look at Taiwan from south to north or from east to west, what we see is a different Taiwan,” Wu said.

Chang said that the map should not be read politically as the earth is round and everyone looks at maps from different angles.
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