COVID-19 CAUSES TAIWAN TO REDESIGN ITS PASSPORT

Bears, butterflies, and bubble tea. These are some of the leading motifs in a design contest in Taiwan, which seeks to crowdsource a new design for its passports that will “convey the identity of Taiwanese” right on the cover.

Taiwan’s current travel document features its official name, “Republic of China,” and “Taiwan passport” in English and in Chinese. Proponents of the change argue that being associated with China has become problematic during the coronavirus pandemic because border agents tend to confuse them with citizens of communist China where Covid-19 is believed to have originated from. It’s a galling predicament given the island’s exemplary record in dealing with the disease, despite being excluded from the World Health Organization because of Beijing’s “One China” policy. The Communist Party deems Taiwan a part of its territory though it has never governed there.

“We are considered by foreign countries to be from China not Taiwan,” argued pro-independence politician Chen Po-wei during a meeting of Taiwan’s parliament in April. “We are even suppressed and discriminated against.”

a close up of a blackboard: What Taiwan's current passport looks like© Provided by Quartz What Taiwan's current passport looks like

Taiwan’s current passport

The New Power Party, formed after the 2014 youth protests that were in part about Taiwan’s iden