Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The recent furor over an internal WHO memo downgrading Taiwan to a “province of China” and the government’s inept handling of this matter has set a dangerous precedent that could further erode Taiwan’s international standing.

When the WHO document was first disclosed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) it triggered public outrage.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was slow to catch on to the implications. Instead, he touted it as one of his administration’s achievements that Taiwan had been able to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer under the name “Chinese Taipei” since 2009. Ma further claimed that his cross-strait policy had secured this goodwill gesture from China.

A Taiwanese woman and her British husband registered their marriage on Friday in Abiko City in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture only to discover that her nationality was listed as “China” on the marriage certificate, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker said yesterday.

The woman from Pingtung County, surnamed Lee (李), said by telephone that she had objected to the designation of her nationality as Chinese and was told by Japanese authorities that the name was prescribed in its rules and regulations.

Lee said she had submitted her marriage registration in Japan because her husband worked there, but now she worried that Taiwanese authorities would not recognize her marriage certificate.