Taiwan Releases New Passport, Erases "Republic Of China"

Example of a new Taiwan passport (Ann Wang / Reuters, Antara)

JAKARTA - The Taiwanese authorities on Monday 11 January inaugurated the new passport design. There is a change in the layout of the region name. The authorities also deleted the words "Republic of China".

According to the official state statement, this was done to avoid confusion at the foreign immigration office, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The new passports were launched as China seeks to assert territorial sovereignty in Taiwan, an island that currently has autonomy to govern itself.

Before the new design was formalized, the old Taiwan passport had a large "Republic of China" inscription on the top. Meanwhile, the words "Taiwan" are printed at the bottom of the cover.

Local authorities say the layout often confuses immigration officials. Taiwan explained that its residents are often affected by the policy of prohibiting entry from foreign countries because a number of foreign immigration officers consider them the same as Chinese citizens.

In fact, the situation for handling COVID-19 in China and Taiwan is different. According to authorities in Taiwan, it has been controlling the spread of COVID-19 since the initial period of the pandemic.

The new passport authorized by Taiwan enlarges the words "Taiwan" and erases the words "Republic of China" which were originally in the center of the passport cover. However, the words "Republic of China" in Chinese and English can still be found around the Taiwan emblem.

The Director General of the Taiwan Consular Bureau, Phoebe Yeh, said that his party had received more than 700 requests for new passports as of Monday afternoon. Generally, there are on average 1,000 requests for a new passport per day.

"The purpose of (the new passport) enhances Taiwan's image so that our people are not considered to have come from China when they travel abroad," said Phoebe. Chen Li-ting, one of the residents who applied for a new passport, said "the change was fantastic."

"I think this will happen sooner or later. Sooner or later, the word Taiwan will appear more, (but) that doesn't change the fact that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China," Chen said.

China calls Taiwan part of its sovereignty. Therefore, China is of the opinion that only it can represent Taiwan in international forums, including the World Health Organization (WHO).