South Korea on Friday last week adjusted its electronic arrival card system, removing its wrongful designation of Taiwan as “Taiwan (China).” The change followed diplomatic protests from Taiwan, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) warning it could revise South Korea’s designation from “Republic of Korea” — the country’s official name — to “Korea (South).”
South Korea last year changed Taiwan’s designation to “Taiwan (China)” — an appellation which misrepresented Taiwan as subordinate to China — in the drop-down menus of its e-arrival system for travelers to indicate where they came from and their next destination. After months of inaction on Seoul’s part, MOFA on March 1 changed the designation on the Alien Resident Certificates of South Koreans in Taiwan from “Republic of Korea” to “South Korea.” It added that it would further change the name to “Korea (South)” if the issue was not resolved by the end of last month.
A similar controversy has been ongoing in Denmark. Taiwanese in Denmark had since 1978 been able to list their country of birth as “Taiwan” on official records. However, in 2024, the Danish government changed the listing of the nationality of Taiwanese citizens to “China” on their residence permits, despite allowing Palestinians to list their country of origin as Palestine.
The government and Taiwanese residents have consistently protested the change, saying Denmark is the only EU country to have adopted such a designation. Critics have said that Copenhagen’s move reflects its alignment with the Chinese Communist Party’s “one China principle,” rather than the “one China policy” adopted by other democratic nations that continue to engage with China while recognizing Taiwan’s de facto autonomy.
MOFA has revoked certain privileges for Danish representatives in Taiwan, and pledged further measures to push for changes in line with EU practices and international norms.
These incidents reflect a broader trend under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), with Beijing intensifying its “wolf warrior” diplomacy and pressure on Taiwan’s international space, including through long-arm jurisdiction. For instance, in 2024, the Chinese ambassador to Denmark reportedly asked the Japanese embassy to expel Taiwanese representatives from a diplomatic event in Copenhagen, in blatant disregard for Danish and Japanese jurisdiction.
Other incidents include China pressuring South Africa to force Taiwan to relocate and rename its representative offices. In March 2024, Chinese diplomats tailed Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to the Czech Republic which nearly caused a car accident; Czech officials described the incident as an “unprecedented” provocation.
In response to these pressures, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has adopted a more proactive diplomatic strategy, moving beyond the earlier “steadfast diplomacy” (踏實外交) approach of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), which emphasized pragmatism, mutual assistance and initiatives, such as “Taiwan can help” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lai’s approach seeks to counter mislabeling and to reinforce Taiwan’s international position through targeted measures, including trade-related measures, such as potential chip export restrictions to South Africa, which encouraged Pretoria to negotiate the diplomatic issue.
Taiwan also boycotted the WTO Ministerial Conference for the first time since 2001 to protest Cameroon’s use of “Taiwan, Province of China” on visa documents. Cameroon’s decision violates WTO norms of non-subordination, MOFA said, garnering support from the US, Japan and other allies.
Given Taiwan’s large trade deficit with South Korea due to high-bandwidth memory imports and Denmark being Taiwan’s third-largest source of pork imports and a key offshore wind contractor, these partner states should show greater respect for international norms and avoid actions that undermine bilateral relations.
Maintaining international friendships is important; however, Taiwan also needs proactive and multifaceted measures to defend its sovereignty against unfair treatment by other states.
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