Qatar 2022 changes Taiwan’s name yet again for World Cup site. Now it’s a geopolitical row
- Taiwanese visitors applying for ID card that doubles as visa must now list nationality as ‘Chinese Taipei’, sparking accusations of Beijing bullying Qatar
- First the online system omitted the island, then it was listed as ‘Taiwan, province of China’, then simply ‘Taiwan’
All World Cup ticket holders must apply for the Hayya card used to identify fans, which also serves as their Qatar visa, but Taiwan’s government expressed concern after discovering the online application system made no mention of the island.
It was subsequently listed as “Taiwan, Province of China”, terminology that equally angers Taiwan’s government and many of its people, and then changed again to just “Taiwan”, earning praise from the government in Taipei.
However, the listing has changed again, to “Chinese Taipei”, the name Taiwan uses to compete in most international sporting events like the Olympics to avoid political problems.
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‘One China’ explained
China’s foreign ministry expressed its “appreciation” to the Qatari government’s “adherence to the one-China principle and its handling of relevant matters in accordance with the usual practices of international sports events”.
