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
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS