On January 13 President Chen Shui-bian announced at the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) that he had formally approved a MOFA document stipulating that "passports be annotated with the word Taiwan," and that this was his gift to FAPA on the occasion of its 20th anniversary celebration.

He said that in the past the passports of the Republic of China (ROC) were very frequently confused with those of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The ROC is a prosperous and advanced country, he continued, yet for a variety of reasons its existence on an international level has not been easy. The rights and interests of Taiwan's 23 million people must be guaranteed, he added.

Foreign minister Tien Hung-mao subsequently explained that putting the word "Taiwan" on the passport meant adding the phrase "Issued in Taiwan" on the cover, and that this was by no means changing the name of the country. The main point was to make things more convenient for Taiwanese traveling abroad by avoiding a situation where they would be mistaken for passport holders from the PRC. He further stated that this was just an administrative measure and that people should not read too much politics into it.

Nevertheless, this decision raised the suspicions of opposition parties about "Taiwan independence."

KMT chairman Lien Chan said that this action of the MOFA had not been fully debated in the parliament. Moreover, he questioned whether the selection of the time, place and audience for these remarks had not been purposefully chosen, and whether the possible consequences had been fully considered. In his opinion, all these questions raise serious constitutional issues.

KMT legislative caucus whip Lee Cheng-chong said that the KMT would request a constitutional interpretation of the passport change. But Jason Hu, speaking from his vantage point as a former foreign minister, said this was a measure taken by the foreign ministry to more clearly distinguish the status of individuals and should not be a cause for a lot of criticism.

As for the People First Party, Chairman James Soong called into question the time and place of President Chen's announcement. He argued that if the passport case were merely something at the administrative level, it could have been given to the foreign ministry's consular section to handle, and wondered why it was necessary for the President to make an announcement. If, however, the case were recognized as something at the constitutional level, then it should follow the appropriate constitutional process.

What was surprising was that Taiwan independence groups including FAPA, the Northern Taiwan Society, the Taiwan New Century Foundation, and the Independence Alliance called a joint press conference to express their dissatisfaction with the move to make an annotation on the passports. They believe that to add the phrase "Issued in Taiwan" is to "Hong Kong-ize" a Taiwan passport and to lower the national status. They demand removing the KMT party emblem from the passport and simply making the annotation read "Taiwan."

The director of the Taiwan New Century Foundation, Chen Lung-chih, said the decision of the MOFA not only failed to use an appropriate name for Taiwan, it fell into the "one China, several systems" trap.

In the face of widespread criticism, President Chen said that when Taiwanese are traveling abroad their passports are frequently mistaken for those of the PRC. For this reason, printing the phrase "Issued in Taiwan" on a passport, just like printing the phrase "Made in Taiwan" on Taiwanese products, would give people a sense of pride. Furthermore, he continued, the reason he made the announcement at the 20th anniversary celebration of FAPA was to affirm the work done abroad by the members of FAPA over the last 20 years for ROC diplomacy.

As one might expect, the PRC interpreted the ROC passport annotation plan in the ideological terms of "unification vs. independence." The Taiwan Affairs Office of the PRC State Council denounced Taiwan for pursuing "gradual Taiwan independence" and warned in strong terms that this move would exacerbate cross-strait tensions.

The policy of the MOFA set off a political chain reaction. The passport issue coincided with the Legislative Yuan's annual budget review, and some opposition legislators introduced a motion to cut the MOFA's budget sharply. But precisely because the controversy spilled over into the legislature, the government's plan to alter the passport has now received the endorsement of Taiwan's highest representative body.

The Legislative Yuan passed a resolution demanding that the government refrain from making any change to the words "Republic of China" on the cover of the passport. PFP legislative whip Chou Hsi-wei subsequently stated, however, that his party would not object to having the words "Issued in Taiwan" printed below the country's name, though he stressed that it would not be acceptable to have the name of Taiwan incorporated into the country's name by changing "Republic of China" to read, for example, "Republic of China (Taiwan)" or "Republic of China, Taiwan."

In the end, adding "Issued in Taiwan" below the country's name was the compromise that carried the day. In the future, people from Taiwan can expect their travels abroad to go just a bit more smoothly thanks to this change.

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The new passport will have the annotation "Issued in Taiwan" on the cover. (photo by Jimmy Lin)