Taiwan stands up — in name only

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Odd as it seems, China Airlines doesn't fly to the Chinese capital or, for that matter, anywhere in the vast heartland of the People's Republic.

That's because the airline belongs to the other China — the Republic of China, better known as Taiwan.

For more than half a century, through decades of gaffes and misdirected phone calls from the outside world, archrival governments in Beijing and Taipei have each retained the name "China" on state-run businesses and agencies, a cold war over words between the mainland and the self-ruled island it calls a renegade province.

"I, myself, get confused," said Joseph Wu, head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council.

But the joint custody of the name "China" is beginning to crumble, a telling sign of how China's rise in the world and Taiwan's deepening isolation are further fueling their dangerous feud.

This month, Taiwan's government abruptly pulled the name from some key state-run institutions: China Shipbuilding, for instance, became Taiwan International Shipbuilding; the postal service went from Chunghwa Post, which uses a Mandarin word for "China," to Taiwan Post.

In the high-stakes standoff across the Taiwan Straits — China has roughly 1,000 missiles pointed at the island, by Taiwan's count — these name changes are no small matters.

They are part of a broader effort by pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian to promote Taiwanese identity and distance the island from its increasingly powerful neighbor. Chen is also moving to play down Chinese history in textbooks and public monuments and is planning to print stamps in the name of Taiwan rather than China.

The changes have drawn sharp criticism from China, which tolerates Taiwan's de facto separation but has vowed to attack if the island ever declares formal independence. The changes also drew disapproval from the U.S., which fears any moves by Taiwan that could upset peace in Asia.

Taiwan's leaders say they have no choice. As China's stature grows in diplomacy and business, Taiwan's standing has eroded faster than at any point since 1979, when the U.S. officially switched its recognition to the Chinese government.

Communist Party leaders have proved adept at deploying trade and development aid to win diplomatic alliances that isolate Taiwan. Since 2000, China has succeeded in persuading seven nations to break relations with Taiwan and recognize China.

"The Chinese side doesn't hesitate anymore in twisting Taiwan's arm in international participation and, of course, that kind of thing is getting on our nerves," Wu said, adding, "The government establishment had to think of a way to make a distinction between China and Taiwan."

Positive signs?

In some ways, the name controversy belies positive signs in relations between the two governments. China has benefited from roughly $100 billion in Taiwanese investments, and hundreds of thousands of businesspeople flow back and forth. The governments are nearing a deal that could allow direct flights between the two for the first time in decades.

But Taiwan's move to distance itself from China poignantly reflects the fundamental dynamic in Taiwan today: the island's continued reversal of fortune over the past half-century.

In the five decades that followed the 1949 exodus of Nationalists driven out by Mao Tse-tung, the island shed authoritarianism in favor of democracy and drove up living standards, while across the Straits, political campaigns left China poor and chaotic. Taiwan had become an Asian tiger, the proud, urbane, high-tech hope of the Chinese-speaking world.

But in less than a decade, China's double-digit annual growth and relaxed personal freedoms have revolutionized the world's most populous country, eclipsing Taiwan and emerging as an Asian power without equal.

"We find we have been overshadowed by China in diplomatic and business terms," said Parris Chang, an analyst and former lawmaker. "There's no question that Chinese outreach has eroded Taiwan's diplomatic standing."

Practical motivation

The name changes have a practical motivation as well. For much of its postwar history, communist China was an ideological and idiosyncratic voice in world affairs, a power symbolized by its monochromatic Mao suits, and there was little confusing it with the business-minded Taiwan. But today Chinese executives and diplomats are in every corner of the globe, involved in everything from oil exploration to space research and nonproliferation talks.

The shared names are abetting some gaffes, as in the U.S. in April, when Chinese President Hu Jintao stood in stony silence while the official announcer mistakenly announced that the band would play the "national anthem of the Republic of China." More recently, on Feb. 3, the Caribbean island of Grenada played the wrong national anthem for visiting Chinese leaders.

Taiwan's leaders have their own horror stories, often involving the wrong flags and banners hoisted over summit talks.

Beyond the name changes, students in Taiwan began using textbooks this year that removed references to "our country" and to the "mainland," replacing them in many cases with the word "China."

So far, Chen's government has pledged not to change the formal name, Republic of China, or its flag, acts that Beijing would consider provocative.