British author J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books have sold more than 200 million copies in China. Photo: AFP
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https://scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3021842/harry-potter-website-bows-fans-demands-it-restore-taiwan-china Diplomacy
Harry Potter website bows to fans’ demands that it restore Taiwan to China in drop-down menu
- Wizarding World began to refer to self-governing island simply as ‘Taiwan’ in May after student objected to China suffix
- Mainland fans threaten to turn their backs on book and movie franchise
Mainland fans overturned a complaint by a Taiwanese student to the Harry Potter website that Taiwan should not be designated part of China. Photo: AP
The official website of fictional wizard Harry Potter and creator J.K. Rowling has become caught up in the tensions between Beijing and Taipei after Chinese fans demanded that it recognise Taiwan as part of China.
Mainland media reported on Saturday that Wizarding World had started to refer to the self-governing island as “Taiwan” in response to a complaint soon after its launch in May. On Sunday, the Potter websites had changed their listing to Taiwan, China.
Citing a story from Taiwan-based SET News Channel that appeared in July, EastDay – a Shanghai-based government-owned news website – said a Taiwanese university student had objected to a “province of China” drop-down menu when she tried to create an account on the site.
The student, identified as Chang Kai-han, told SET News Channel that two weeks after her complaint she received feedback from the website, confirming its listing for Taiwan had been changed in line with her objection.
EastDay’s article said that wizardingworld.com and Pottermore.com, the official entertainment and news channels founded and owned by British author Rowling for fans of Potter and her other fictional figures, also listed Hong Kong and Macau without a China suffix.
Since last year, various foreign airlines, hoteliers and clothing brands, under pressure from Beijing and mainland citizens using social media, have designated the island as “Taiwan, China” on their websites.
The latest disputed reference to Taiwan came as the island’s relations with mainland China continued to deteriorate under the independence-leaning administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
The EastDay article prompted an angry response from mainland Chinese fans of the Potter franchise on Sunday, including calls for a boycott of Rowling’s work.
“Your losses will be very heavy!” a Weibo blogger wrote, posting a screenshot of her complaint to the Wizarding World page. “Please take this problem seriously! Return Taiwan to Taiwan, China!”
“I hope they’ll respond as soon as possible, otherwise it’s just a matter of time for a fan of 10 years to quit,” blogger NADA Don’t Jab wrote.
The Wizarding World Harry Potter website found itself at the centre of a storm as fans complained it did not designate Taiwan as part of China. Photo: AFP
“With support from patriotic Harry Potter fans, [I] wrote to the official website,” Weibo blogger Belle is Heroine said. “Now it’s 8.13am in the UK and the first thing I did after getting up was to check the Wizarding World website and it was changed.”
China has the world’s second-largest, though heavily regulated, cinema market. Last year, its box office income reached 61 billion yuan (US$8.7 billion).
All of the Potter films have been released in mainland China since the first, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was shown in January 2002. According to Beijing Youth Daily, an estimated 200 million copies of the Potter books have been sold in the country.