Taiwan demotes 'Republic of China' reference on new passports

New design aims to avoid confusion with mainland, says government, though opposition criticises ‘ideological move’

Taiwan has revealed the new design of its passport, minimising the words “Republic of China” and eschewing popular submissions featuring pictures of animals, food and bubble tea.

The new passport, unveiled on Wednesday, no longer has large English lettering spelling out “Republic of China”, having moved the words into a small design feature around the national emblem. The “Taiwan” lettering is enlarged.

A government legislator proposed the change in April, saying the passport cover was leading to misunderstandings about people being from the Republic of China (Taiwan), versus the People’s Republic of China on the mainland.

Lawmakers passed a resolution in July to ask the foreign ministry to change the passport to highlight “Taiwan” over “China”, and for the transport ministry to explore renaming Taiwan’s state-run China Airlines.

However the opposition Kuomintang party said it was hard not to see the new passport as an expression of the government’s “ideological and political considerations”.

The Kuomintang and the governing party have differing stances on Taiwan’s status as it relates to Beijing.

The government led by Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan is a sovereign country, and has rejected Beijing’s push for “one country two systems” governance.

Since it transitioned into democracy, Taiwan’s developing identity has moved it further away from the prospect of reunification with China.

Old vs new Taiwan passports.

A lot more Taiwan, a lot less Republic of China. pic.twitter.com/PaVcXUxXVC

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) September 2, 2020

An online competition launched by the New Power party drew creative public submissions, including depictions of the Taipei 101 building, bowls of braised pork rice, and numerous entries featuring bubble tea, but in the end authorities went with a traditional design.

“The new cover keeps all the same elements we have on the existing cover but we highlighted the English word for ‘Taiwan’ and moved it close to the word ‘passport’ to make it clear that the passport is a Taiwan passport,” said the foreign minister, Joseph Wu, at Wednesday’s unveiling.

At the end of China’s civil war in 1949, Communist forces declared the mainland the People’s Republic of China, while the defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan and named it the Republic of China.

Debate over the name has come to a head during the pandemic, when the names caused confusion amid increased global focus on the different Covid-19 responses, including Taiwan’s international assistance, and various national travel bans, those calling for the change said.

The Kuomintang party said: “If the ministry of foreign affairs is worried that this name may be confused with the name of the other side of the strait, it should make every effort to explain the difference between the two to other countries, and increase the international community’s understanding of ‘Republic of China’.”

Cross-strait relations are particularly sensitive, as countries like the US bolster their support for Taiwan despite having no formal diplomatic ties. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a Chinese territory under its “one China principle”, even though the Communist party has never ruled there, and has not ruled out mounting an invasion. In 2003 the Taiwanese passport was updated to add the word “Taiwan”. In 2015 some Taiwanese people who added stickers with the words “Republic of Taiwan” to their passports were denied entry to mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore, QZ reported.

Authorities will start issuing the new passports in January.

Contributor

Helen Davidson

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Taiwan accuses China of interfering with Covid vaccine deals
Tsai Ing-wen says agreement with German firm BioNTech has been delayed after Beijing intervention

Helen Davidson in Taipei

27, May, 2021 @8:24 AM

Article image
Marriott apologises to China over Tibet and Taiwan error
Hotel chain is ordered to shut down its website for week after customer survey lists regions including Hong Kong and Macau as separate countries

Benjamin Haas in Hong Kong

12, Jan, 2018 @10:10 AM

Article image
China strongly objects to Pompeo's praise for Taiwan president
US secretary of state sent message hailing re-elected Tsai Ing-wen’s ‘courage and vision’

Helen Davidson and Lily Kuo

20, May, 2020 @5:14 AM

Article image
Why is China increasing its military pressure on Taiwan?
As China ramps up its display of power, Taiwan’s leaders vow to do ‘whatever it takes’ to defend its independence

Helen Davidson and Chi Hui Lin in Taipei

06, Oct, 2021 @7:12 AM

Article image
'Stronger together': Taiwan foreign minister urges new alliance against China
Joseph Wu says Beijing is seeking to expand its ‘authoritarian order’ and calls for ‘like-minded’ nations to act together to protect Taiwan

Helen Davidson in Taipei

07, Dec, 2020 @3:28 AM

Article image
British MPs plan visit to Taiwan as tension with China simmers
Exclusive: Tom Tugendhat likely to lead trip later this year as London’s relationship with Beijing deteriorates

Vincent Ni China affairs correspondent

01, Aug, 2022 @2:46 PM

Article image
US would defend Taiwan if attacked by China, says Joe Biden
President says US’s responsibility to protect island is ‘even stronger’ after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Justin McCurry in Tokyo, Vincent Ni and agencies

23, May, 2022 @11:26 PM

Article image
Taiwan president warns of ‘catastrophic consequences’ if island falls to China
Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan will ‘do whatever it takes to defend itself’ against an increasingly assertive Beijing

Helen Davidson in Taipei

05, Oct, 2021 @5:39 AM

Article image
Taiwan politicians dismiss Elon Musk’s ‘ill-informed and belittling’ China comments
Musk, the world’s richest person, suggested giving China some control over the island to resolve the cross-strait dispute

Helen Davidson in Taipei

10, Oct, 2022 @1:18 AM

Article image
China used drills to prepare for invasion, Taiwan foreign minister says
Tensions high as Taiwan begins live-fire drills and China continues military exercises it started after US speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei last week

Helen Davidson in Taipei

09, Aug, 2022 @12:26 PM