TAIPEI (TAIWAN) – Taiwan authorities said on Wednesday that it was redesigning its passport in a bid to give more prominence to the name of the island. This comes as the government is fed up with being mistaken for mainland China and Beijing’s enhanced efforts to assert power over the nation.
Taiwan nationals encountered huge problems while entering other countries during the outbreak of the pandemic as their passports have the words “Republic of China”, which is its formal name, written in a large font at the top and “Taiwan” at the bottom.
The revamped passport, which is expected to come into circulation in January, will no longer have “Republic of China” in English printed on it although the name in Chinese characters will remain. The word “Taiwan” in English will be enlarged.
According to Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, the new passports were the need of the hour to prevent Taiwan residents from being mistaken for Chinese citizens.
“Since the beginning of the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak this year our people have kept hoping that we can give more prominence to Taiwan’s visibility, avoiding people mistakenly thinking they are from China,” Wu said.
China has always laid claims on Taiwan as its territory and says only Beijing has the right to speak on behalf of the island on global platforms, especially at the World Health Organization.
Taiwan says China’s position has always confused other countries leading them to impose the same curbs on Taiwanese travellers as on Chinese.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.