Taipei complains about London university’s decision to alter artwork and portray Taiwan as part of China
- LSE makes change after mainland Chinese students object to globe suggesting Taiwan and Tibet are independent nations
- Foreign ministry in Taipei says school should not have caved in to pressure from Beijing
Taiwan has complained about a decision by the London School of Economics to alter a prize-winning artwork and portray the self-governing island as part of China.
The World Turned Upside Down by English artist Mark Wallinger has been on display outside the school’s student activity centre in London since March 26 and features a globe of the Earth standing on its north pole.
Last week, the artwork provoked a reaction from mainland Chinese students, who complained that Taiwan was labelled as a country – “REP. CHINA (Taiwan)” – with Taipei as its national capital, and given a different colour to China. Lhasa was identified as the national capital of Tibet.
Describing the globe as offensive to Beijing, mainland students demanded that the school authorities change the labelling, prompting a meeting involving mainland Chinese and Taiwanese students on April 3 in which it was decided to remove Taiwan’s official Republic of China title and make the island a part of China.
However, the semi-official Central News Agency in Taipei argued that changing Taiwan’s colour from red to the same yellow used for mainland China implied that they were one territory.
The school put a notice beside the artwork, which said it “understands and respects the strong feelings existing around statehood and identity”, and that it “encourages respectful exchanges on these issues but criminal damage on LSE property is not acceptable”.