On Friday 17th of May, Ambassador Liao´s opinion article "Absurb ändring av namnet Taiwan" was published in the newspaper Östgöta Korrespondenten (click here to read the editorial in Swedish). Below is the English translation of the article:
"Absurb change of the designation of Taiwan"
Over the past two years, Taiwan has faced increasing pressure from China. Last year Swedish and international media reported on several occasions that the Chinese government has been placing unreasonable pressure on multinational companies as well as local authorities to remove all references to Taiwan as its own country. By trying to force entities outside of China not to refer to Taiwan as its own country, the Chinese government attempts to impose its political views that in no way conform to the cross-strait reality and status quo of separate governance. The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (link) uses the name Taiwan when referring to our country.
To my deep surprise and regret I learned that the International Students Association (ISA) of Linköping University recently during an international event changed its designation of Taiwan to the utterly absurd designation “Taiwan/Chinese Province of Taipei”. We highly suspect this change was done after the Chinese Embassy exerted pressure on the university at the last moment before the competition. According to ISA, this change was necessary in order to follow Swedish law, which was claimed to describe Taiwan as a province of China.
On the basis of values shared by Taiwan and Sweden, such as democracy and human rights, I hope everybody can truly understand how the designation “Taiwan/Chinese Province of Taipei” is detrimental to the image of Taiwan. This designation incorrectly links us to the People´s Republic of China; a country that disrespects human rights and rule of law.
We firmly oppose the unreasonable decision by ISA of Linköping University to change the designation of Taiwan, especially during activities related to cultural exchange at an university, where freedom of expression should be lauded and encouraged in accordance with the Swedish tradition of openness and transparency. We sincerely hope that the Swedish Government in the future will not accept that a foreign entity tries to influence the freedom of expression in Sweden.
Daniel T.C. Liao,
Representative of Taipei Mission in Sweden
(Taiwan´s representative office in Sweden)
