Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

In the Shakespearean tragedy Romeo and Juliet, vexed with questions of family loyalty versus her love for a Montague, Juliet asks the provocative question: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Her thoughts and interest of course go far beyond the relationship between nomenclature and the characteristics of flowers.

In the same vein, applying Shakespeare’s words to countries instead of flowers, Taiwanese can ask: “What’s in a name?”

In September 2012, at a time of Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands (釣魚台) crisis, I led an Australian delegation to Taiwan. Our first visit was with the then-foreign minister, Timothy Jin-tien Yang (楊進添), an old friend who had served as Taiwan’s representative in Australia. My first question concerned the Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands and Yang criticized me for not knowing that “Diaoyutai” was the proper name for the islands. I was surprised by the sharpness of his response, but he may have been preparing himself for his meeting with the Japanese representative that afternoon.