A top US school, Johns Hopkins University, has backed down on how it refers to Taiwan on its Web-based map detailing the spread of the new coronavirus after the government protested at the institution’s inclusion of it as part of China.
Beijing has been exerting pressure on foreign companies and organizations to identify Chinese-claimed Taiwan as part of China, and often to label it as a Chinese province.
The issue has come to a head again with the COVID-19 outbreak, with the WHO listing Taiwan’s case numbers under China’s, referring to it as “Taipei and environs.”
The designation “Taipei and environs, China” began to be used on Monday by Johns Hopkins on an interactive Web-based dashboard created by its Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) that tracks the virus outbreaks around the world (coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html).
However, in a rare diplomatic victory for Taiwan, the university has now changed that, and again calls the nation simply “Taiwan.”
The Ministry of Foreign Ministry (MOFA) on Wednesday said that it had asked the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington to lodge a protest with university in Baltimore, Maryland.
“During a comprehensive review of the dashboard this week, professor Lauren Gardner and her team decided to align the names of nations with the World Health Organization’s naming conventions to achieve consistency in reporting,” the university said in an e-mailed statement to Reuters, referring to the CSSE codirector who oversees the mapping project.
“Upon further consideration, the team now uses US State Department naming conventions, including the use of Taiwan,” the statement said.
Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday said the government appreciated the university’s quick action in making the correction, and she thanked US Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Michael McCaul, as well as US think tank members for raising concern about the issue.
Taiwan is now listed as an independent entity, without being downgraded, she said.
The nation looks forward to deepening cooperation with Johns Hopkins in various fields, and at the same time, it thanks US President Donald Trump’s administration for showing support for Taiwan, she said.
Taiwan and the US would continue deepening collaboration to curb the spread of COVID-19, she added.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan and staff writer
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