{"id":200726,"date":"2017-05-24T14:00:55","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T21:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=200726"},"modified":"2017-06-02T13:54:31","modified_gmt":"2017-06-02T20:54:31","slug":"minitrue-not-present-taiwan-separate-political-entity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2017\/05\/minitrue-not-present-taiwan-separate-political-entity\/","title":{"rendered":"Minitrue: Do Not Present Taiwan as a Separate Political Entity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following censorship<\/a> instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.<\/em><\/p>\n

News regarding “Taiwan becoming a legal area for same-sex marriage,” raises sensitive political and social issues. Do not hype this story. Regarding terms such as constitution, Judicial Yuan, Legislative Yuan, President, etc., take note to use\u00a0quotation marks. Make sure not to present Taiwan as a different political entity than the Chinese mainland. (May 24, 2017) [Chinese<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Taiwan’s top court on Wednesday ruled that language in the nation’s Civil Code<\/a> stipulating that marriage is between a man and a woman violated the constitution. The court gave lawmakers two years to amend the code, setting Taiwan up to become the first Asian country to legalize same-sex unions, a move that is being applauded by LGBT activists<\/strong><\/a>. At The Washington Post, Emily Rauhala reports, providing context on LGBT activism and backlash in Taiwan:<\/p>\n

Wayne Lin, chairman of the nongovernmental Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, called it a \u201cmilestone\u201d for the country.<\/p>\n

It is also a milestone for the region, gay rights activists said. \u201cWithout a doubt, Taiwan is walking in front of other Asian countries on this,\u201d said\u00a0Ying Xin,\u00a0executive director of the Beijing LGBT Center. \u201cThis is significant for all of Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

[…]\u00a0Taiwan has long been seen as a leader on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. While Indonesia arrests and beats gay people, Singapore criminalizes gay sex and China cracks down on LGBT organizing, Taiwan has taken steps toward equality.<\/p>\n

[…]\u00a0But a bitter backlash to the groundswell of support for marriage equality has tested Taiwan\u2019s reputation for tolerance. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cross-strait tensions have been especially high since landslide presidential and parliamentary\u00a0victories for the Democratic Progressive Party<\/a> last January. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has refused to fully recognize the “1992 Consensus” and related “one China” principle, resulting in Beijing’s suspension of informal diplomatic channels with Taiwan<\/a>, and its lobbying for the exclusion\u00a0of Taipei at international policy events such as a recent conflict diamond meeting in Australia<\/a>, and at the ongoing World Health Assembly in Geneva<\/a> where Taiwan had previously been granted observer status.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, The News Lens’ Ziqing Low reported on new directives from Xinhua News Agency dictating how self-governing Taiwan can be covered in China<\/strong><\/a>. The directives\u00a0also touch on\u00a0other politically sensitive issues related to Chinese sovereignty, such as the South China Sea, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang:<\/p>\n

According to a Chinese-language\u00a0copy of the notice<\/a>, there are 45 directives. Thirteen of those cover terminology restrictions for territory and sovereignty issues, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Xinjiang, as well as the disputed Spratly and Senkaku Islands.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions, and Taiwan is a province of China. These regions should not be referred to as \u201ccountries\u201d in any text, maps or graphs, especially when many other countries and regions are also being mentioned.<\/li>\n
  • If the use of names referring to Taiwan\u2019s governmental system and other such institutions cannot be avoided, then quotation marks should be used, such as Taiwan\u2019s \u201cLegislative Yuan,\u201d \u201cExecutive Yuan,\u201d \u201cControl Yuan,\u201d \u201cCentral Election Commission,\u201d \u201cDirectorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan.\u201d The words \u201ccentral,\u201d \u201cnational,\u201d \u201cChinese Taipei\u201d should be avoided. If it the use of such words cannot be avoided then quotation marks should be used, such as Taiwan \u201cCentral Bank.\u201d Taiwan\u2019s \u201cPremier,\u201d \u201cLegislators,\u201d and other such terms should be put in quotation marks. Taiwan\u2019s \u201cNational Tsing Hua University,\u201d \u201cPalace Museum,\u201d and other such names should be put in quotation marks. Under no condition should \u201cPresident (or Vice-President) of the Republic of China\u201d be used to refer to the leaders of Taiwan, even if it is put in quotation marks.<\/li>\n
  • The so-called \u201claw\u201d in Taiwan should be referred to as \u201crelevant regulations of Taiwan.\u201d When referring to legal affairs in Taiwan, do not use international legal terms such as \u201cdocument validation,\u201d \u201cjudicial assistance,\u201d or \u201cextradition.\u201d […] [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    For more on the ruling by Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan, see coverage from the AP<\/a>, and\u00a0Taiwan News<\/a>. See also a PRIDE\u00a0roundup of Twitter reactions<\/a>. <\/a>Also on Twitter,\u00a0@wilfredchan<\/a>\u00a0is relaying careful Weibo reactions to the\u00a0news from Taiwan:<\/p>\n

    \n

    Widely shared Weibo (social media) post in China\u2014"Taiwan has become China's first region to legalize same-sex marriage! Also Asia's first!" pic.twitter.com\/znsmzRythU<\/a><\/p>\n

    — wilfred chan (@wilfredchan) May 24, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n