The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has stopped referring to Taiwan as “Chinese Taipei” in official documents in response to a complaint from the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA).
The complaint was lodged following the earthquake in Chile about six weeks ago when there were fears that a resulting tsunami could reach Taiwan.
At the time, the NOAA issued a tsunami alert in which it referred to Taiwan as Chinese Taipei.
In a letter to the NOAA — an agency affiliated with the US Department of Commerce — FAPA president Bob Yang (楊英育) said that it was an “incontestable reality that Taiwan is not a part of China.”
He said that in 1996 the US State Department issued a memorandum saying that since the US had no diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, US officials should refer to the country as “Taiwan.”
At a later date, William Burns, executive secretary of the State Department at the time, ruled that “consistent with the unofficial nature of US-Taiwan ties, we refer to Taiwan simply as Taiwan.”
Yang told NOAA that it was “of concern to my members” that the organization was referring to Taiwan as Chinese Taipei.
“I respectfully request that NOAA adopt the long-established US State Department guidelines consistent with US national policies and correct this factual error,” wrote Yang.
In response, Dan Thompson, director of international activities at NOAA, said that after consulting with the American Institute in Taiwan, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had “corrected” its database and that in future it would refer to Taiwan by its proper name — Taiwan.
“We are pleased with the outcome,” a FAPA official said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
RSS