Fed up with China, Taiwan will change passports

TAIPEI (BUTERS ROW) – Fed up with the confusion between the coronavirus epidemic and China’s efforts to establish a government, Taiwan on Wednesday said it would redesign the passport to give the island name more prominence.

At the time of Taiwan’s eruption, it was complained that its citizens had difficulty entering other countries, as the words “Republic of China” in Taiwanese passports, with the official name written in English font above, below. Has been printed on

The new passport, expected to air in January, removes the large English words “Republic of China”, although the name will remain in Chinese characters, and extends the word “Taiwan” in English.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said new passports were needed to prevent Chinese nationals from being misled, especially since the start of the epidemic, which has led to an increase in entry checks in many countries.

Wu told reporters, “Since the onset of the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak this year, our people have been hoping that we can give more prominence to Taiwan’s image, and mislead people into thinking they are from China.” Are avoiding.

China considers democratic Taiwan its sovereign territory, and says it only has the right to speak internationally for the island, a situation that has hit the World Health Organization particularly hard during the epidemic.

Taipei says this has confused countries and imposed the same restrictions on Taiwanese travelers as the Chinese, reducing Taiwan’s own successful efforts to control the virus and even fewer.

Taiwan has been debating for years over who it is and what it should do with China – including the name of the island. But the epidemic has brought the issue back into the headlines.

The government is also considering renaming Taiwan’s largest carrier, China Airlines (or at least a whole new design) –2610.TW), To avoid confusion with China again.