Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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A NUMBER OF Taiwanese NGOs have withdrawn from the international crowdfunding platform GlobalGiving over the recent announcement that Taiwan would be listed as “Chinese Taipei” going forward.
The Taiwan Good Rice Circle Association was reportedly the first Taiwanese organization informed that Taiwan would be changed to “Chinese Taipei.” The organization was notified of this by video call at the end of April. Subsequently, the organization decided to withdraw from the platform, announcing this in late May.
In the wake of this announcement, other Taiwanese civil society organizations announced that they would also be withdrawing, including the Taiwan Gender Equity Association, the Judicial Reform Foundation, The Reporter, and others.
It is not uncommon for Taiwan to be forced to go by “Chinese Taipei,” “Taiwan, Province of China,” or similar denomination in international organizations. For example, Taiwan is not allowed to participate in the Olympics except as “Chinese Taipei,” though, ironically, many athletes may not be from Taipei.
Likewise, this goes to highlight Taiwan’s exclusion from international organizations as a whole, including United Nations (UN) agencies. Although Taiwan was allowed to participate in the World Health Organization as an observer in the past, under DPP administrations, Taiwan has been pushed out–this in spite of the potential dangers when this is the UN’s body for global public health. Similarly, Taiwan is excluded from the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN agency responsible for global aviation safety.
Likewise, there are cases in which Taiwan is listed as “Chinese Taipei,” “Taiwan, Province of China”, or some variant thereof in dropdown menus on websites. This often pertains to air travel, such as airline bookings. This has also been the case with the departures, arrivals, or country of origin when arriving at new destinations.
Indeed, this was recently a matter of controversy between Taiwan and South Korea, after South Korea began to list Taiwan as part of China for arrivals and departures in its e-visitor system. In response, Taiwan threatened to change the designation for South Koreans to “Korea (South)” on Alien Resident Certificates.
Following much back-and-forth, it appears that South Korea may have eventually backed down on the matter. It proved unusual, however, to see Taiwan so assertive on the matter, in hitting out at South Korea and threatening to downgrade relations.
As for Taiwanese civil society groups, it is possible that they hope to draw a line in the sand. Even as Taiwan continues to see its international space constrained on the world stage, ties with international civil society have strengthened because of growing global concerns about Chinese coercion. And yet Chinese pressure can still evidently lead international platforms to echo their framing, as seen in the example of GlobalGiving.