The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday commended the University of British Columbia (UBC) for “resuming its academic autonomy,” after the school said it would refer to the nation as “Taiwan,” instead of as “Taiwan (Province of China)” as it had done in an annual report.
In its Enrolment Annual Report 2019-2020 published earlier this year, the Canadian university referred to the nation as “Taiwan (Province of China)” in a table breaking down international students’ countries of citizenship.
In the report’s 2018-2019 edition, the school had referred to the nation as “Taiwan” without any parenthesized note.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
After the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Vancouver lodged a protest against the error in the latest report, the university said the reference would be corrected.
The school said the mistake was inadvertently caused by a move to a standardized computer terminology and that it has implemented a fix, according to a Chronicle Herald report yesterday.
UBC is non-partisan and “does not take stands on political issues,” media relations senior director Kurt Heinrich was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
“Moving forward, UBC will only refer to Taiwan without any additional descriptors in future reports,” Heinrich said.
He said the university had adopted International Organization for Standardization (ISO) data standards for country codes, which “use United Nations sources to define the names of countries.”
The UN considers Taiwan a Chinese province. Canada has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
“It is important to be clear that the utilization of ISO data standards is not indicative of the university taking a position regarding Taiwan,” Heinrich said.
The ministry is glad to see the university resume its academic neutrality and autonomy, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing in Taipei.
The ministry lauded the university for understanding the essence of the problem and its willingness to correct the inappropriate appellation, she added.
However, the error remains in the school’s published report, while the ministry has instructed the TECO in Vancouver to continue to express the nation’s stance and monitor developments, Ou said.
Chinese students at the university outnumber students of other nationalities and their numbers have been increasing over the past few years, followed by students from India and the US, the 2019-2020 report showed.
Beijing has ramped up a campaign to have foreign firms and organizations identify Taiwan as part of China, and often to directly name it as a Chinese province.
Taiwan strongly objects to this, saying that it has never been part of the People’s Republic of China and that Beijing has no authority over the nation.
In March, Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University backed down on how it refers to Taiwan on a map detailing the spread of COVID-19 after Taiwan protested its inclusion of the nation as part of China.
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS