A popular illustrated book of maps now includes Taiwan on the world map in its latest edition, thanks to efforts by the Global Views Educational Foundation.
The foundation sent nine employees to Poland to visit the authors of Maps — Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinska — and gave them a lot of information about Taiwan, foundation president Charles Kao (高希均) told a news conference on education on Thursday in Taipei.
The book has sold more than 100,000 copies in Taiwan, which is a rare feat considering the state of the publishing industry today, Kao said.
Photo: CNA
He said he became fascinated with the book shortly after he began to read it, adding that its captivating illustrations make it an ideal read for children.
However, he said there was a “major defect” in the book — the lack of Taiwan on the world map.
“This made the map incomplete,” he said.
“We could not locate our nation in it, and if we were living in an authoritarian era, this book would have to be incinerated,” Kao joked.
To amend the situation, he sent nine employees to visit the Mizielinskas in Poland.
The foundation’s employees gave the couple a “tonne of information” on Taiwan in the hope that they would include the nation in the book.
The end result is shown in the latest edition of the book, which sees Taiwan placed on the world map where it belongs.
Kao said it took a year for the latest edition to be published.
“Taiwan is a small nation that is often sidelined, intentionally or otherwise,” he said.
Quoting Alliance Cultural Foundation chairman Stanley Yen (嚴長壽), Kao said that “one must be able to find one’s self on the world map.”
“And now our children can finally find themselves and Taiwan on the global map,” he said.
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