Now is the time to rectify the nation’s name by discarding all use of “Chinese Taipei” and “Republic of China” (ROC) and using “Taiwan” for all government agencies and state-funded corporations, given that the COVID-19 outbreak spread from China, but countries have imposed travel bans on Taiwanese, a group of pro-Taiwan independence supporters said at a rally in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei yesterday.
Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) said that the gathering was held not in protest, but to rally public support and cheer on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her administration for taking action to combat the virus.
People at the rally held up banners and placards that read: “Combat Against Virus Outbreak, Rectify Nation’s Name, Victory for Taiwan”; “Use Name of Taiwan to Conduct Diplomacy”; and “We want a New Constitution for Taiwan.”
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Republic Office
“Now, due to the global fear of the ‘Wuhan virus’ from China, it is the time for President Tsai to act decisively by ending the use of ‘ROC’ and ‘Chinese Taipei,’ because international communities confuse us Taiwanese with Chinese,” Chen said.
“We demand that our nation’s name be rectified to Taiwan … to declare to the world that Taiwan and China are two different countries, and that Taiwanese are not ruled by the Beijing government,” he said.
Taiwan Independence Party official Peter Ku (古文發) said that with the international support for the nation and other countries’ endorsement of Taiwan’s excellent public health system and success in containing the virus outbreak, Tsai must take the opportunity to rectify the nation’s name, and to express Taiwanese’s overwhelming desire to join the WHO and become a member of the UN.
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