Fitch upgrade of ‘Taiwan, China’ draws fire from Taipei

Name: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen calls for ‘faith in democracy’ in Lunar New Year message
Uploaded: 2021-09-11T07:29:58.000Z
Duration: 29 s
Description: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen calls for ‘faith in democracy’ in Lunar New Year message

In an announcement upgrading Taiwan’s economic outlook, Fitch Ratings referred to the self-ruled island as a part of China for the first time

Taipei expressed ‘deep regret’ at the name change and asked the ratings agency to revert to its previous practice of just saying ‘Taiwan’

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Foreign companies have been pressured by Beijing to refer to Taiwan as Chinese territory, which they generally do to avoid losing access to the enormous mainland market. Photo: EPA-EFE

Reuters

Published: 3:29pm, 11 Sep 2021Updated: 3:29pm, 11 Sep 2021

Taiwan’s government scolded Fitch Ratings on Friday after it called the island a part of China for the first time, in an announcement on upgrading Taiwan’s economic outlook.

Taipei said it was talking to the company about the issue.

Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, a breakaway province to be reunited by force if necessary. It has pressured foreign companies to refer to the island as Chinese territory, often using the terminology “Taiwan, China”, which they generally do to avoid losing access to the enormous mainland Chinese market.

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Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen calls for ‘faith in democracy’ in Lunar New Year message

Fitch’s press release used the expression “Taiwan, China” three times, including in the headline, though the statement did make other references to Taiwan without the addition of the word China.

Taiwan’s finance ministry expressed “deep regret” at the name change and asked Fitch to revert to its previous convention of just using the word “Taiwan”.

“The ministry will continue to talk to the company to get them to acknowledge this problem,” it added.

A spokesperson for Fitch Ratings said: “The change to our naming convention for Taiwan was an operational decision”, but did not elaborate.