Taiwan To Alter Passport Design 'to Avoid Confusion'

Taiwan said on Wednesday that it would redesign its passport to give greater prominence to the island's name to "avoid confusion" amid Beijing's stepped-up efforts to assert sovereignty.

Taiwan has complained during the outbreak that its nationals have encountered problems entering other countries, as Taiwanese passports have the words "Republic of China", its formal name, written in large English font at the top, with "Taiwan" printed at the bottom.

The new passport, expected to come into circulation in January, removes the large English words "Republic of China", though the name in Chinese characters will remain, and enlarges the word "Taiwan" in English.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said new passports were needed to prevent their nationals being mistaken for mainland citizens, especially with the stepped up entry checks many countries have begun since the pandemic began.

"Since the beginning of the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak this year our people have kept hoping that we can give more prominence to Taiwan's visibility, avoiding people mistakenly thinking they are from China," Wu told reporters.

The mainland claims democratic Taiwan as its sovereign territory, and says only it has the right to speak for the island internationally, a position it has pushed strongly during the pandemic, especially at the World Health Organisation.

Taipei says this has confused countries and led them to impose the same restrictions on Taiwanese travellers as on those from the mainland, and has minimised Taiwan's own successful efforts to control the virus and far lower case number.

The government is also considering a name change – or at least a full redesign – for Taiwan's largest carrier, China Airlines, again to avoid confusion. (Reuters)