This reached my desk. Not only does it incorrectly refer to Taiwan as part of China, note that at the bottom it subordinates any Taiwan World Bank participation to China.++++++++++++++
From:
Kristalina I. Georgieva/Person/World Bank
To:
MDs and CFO/Service/World Bank@WorldBank, VPs, IFC EVP & VPs, Izumi Kobayashi/Person/World Bank@WorldBank, James P. Bond/Person/World Bank@WorldBank
Cc:
Axel R. Peuker/Person/World Bank@WorldBank, Anna Y. Chytla/Person/World Bank@WorldBank, SECVP FO
Date:
11/06/2009 05:45 PM
Subject:
References to China and use of the terms "Taiwan, China", "Hong Kong, China", and "Macau, China"
Sent by:
Emma Hanene Mubagwe
Dear Colleagues,
There have been a number of recent occurrences where references to "Taiwan, China" and "Hong Kong, China" had not been used correctly. I would, therefore, be grateful if you could share the following with all your staff:
Please note that the People’s Republic of China is a member of the World Bank Group institutions and the term “People’s Republic of China”, or "China", should be used in all references to China as a whole. When separate reference to the geographic entities Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau is necessary, the full term, “Taiwan, China” , "Hong Kong, China" or "Macau, China" must be used on all occasions.
As a member country, the People’s Republic of China sends a representative to Bank Group meetings, such as the Development Committee and the Annual Meetings, and other Bank Group functions.
If the participation of “Taiwan, China”, "Hong Kong, China" or "Macau, China" arises in any capacity with regard to any Bank function, the participation should be checked in advance with the East Asia staff responsible for China, which will advise in consultation with the Executive Director for China.
Many thanks and kind regards.
Kristalina
Kristalina I. Georgieva
Vice President and Corporate Secretary
The World Bank Group
Phone: +1 (202) 473-0397 Fax +1 (202) 522-1640
Email: Kgeorgieva@worldbank.org Web: www.worldbankgroup.org
_______________________
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5 comments:
So that's the payoff from signing the MOU is it? Nice. Thank you so much MYJ.
Well...Mugabwe apparently lives in the US. Tax records for Emma H and Bedson Mugabwe of Germantown Maryland are online, but the surname comes up in searches for Zambia, one of the African colonies of China.
Georgieva, appointed WB VP in 2008, is a China-hugging Bulgarian.
So can we really be surprised by this memo?
Was just at the Baosheng Temple in Taipei today and noticed a plaque from UNESCO awarding the temple honorable mention as a Asia-Pacific Cultural Heritage site - located in..."Taiwan, China".
What is sad here in the USA is that the government or whoever is slowly pushing for more simplified written Chinese on display here in the USA. What a bunch of crock?
Also, when I recently came back from a trip in Taiwan, I had eaten at some restaurant at one of the department store nearby Taipei 101. On my billing statement, it said, "Taipei, Province of China." SO SAD!!!!
The China lobbyists are somehow doing a great job of making Taiwan a part of China - at least on the internet. There are many major websites that list Taiwan as a province of China - especially in the US it seems. Must be those Chinese grad students who are hired to do the programming. I could not find Taiwan in the www.nfl.com site for a while during the subscription process because it was listed as "Province of China, Taiwan". I also receive documents from the US based ING Financial services using the double address exactly as it appears below in 2 lines (haha, covered either way):
Taiwan, R.O.C.
Taiwan, Province of China
Well, you can hardly blame the average person for being confused between "Republic of China" vs. "People's Republic of China". And the KMT's own website refers to Taiwan as "Taiwan Province" of the ROC. So, given the large gray area, ambiguity, and confusion it's probably safest and easiest for an institution such as the WB to simply apply the tasty brown lipstick from the ass with the most money protruding from it.
Let's tell them our thoughts/flood their inboxes (guessing World Bank President's email address is rzoellick@worldbank.org). Feel free to take/borrow from the email below:
"Dear Ambassador Zoellick and Ambassador Georgieva,
As an American who has been involved all of my adult life in the issues of Taiwan's democracy, sovereignty and human rights, I was disheartened to learn of a recent memo that has circulated among top members of the World Bank, instructing communications to refer to my family's country not as Taiwan, but as "Taiwan, Province of China."
The plain facts are that Taiwan and the People's Republic of China are ruled by two completely separate governments, with completely independent economies, laws, militaries, etc., etc. In contradiction to the memo, by anyone's analysis (except for in the imaginary desire of the PRC leaders), the following holds true: Whereas Hong Kong and Tibet are technically a "part of China," Taiwan currently is not, and of course has never been, a Province of the People's Republic of China.
To say so--and to instruct members of an organization to conform to the practice--not only is a blatant error, but is equivalent to members of the World Bank engaging in the double-speak of praising the Emperor's Clothes. Calling Taiwan instead, "Taiwan, Province of China," would adhere only to the PRC's blatantly-false vision of the world, at the expense of well-known truth, human rights, and the self-determination of 23 million democratic people of Taiwan. Moreover, it would greatly harm the credibility of the World Bank and its governing board.
I would like to urge you to immediately reconsider those instructions conveyed to your colleagues at the World Bank. I look forward to hearing of your response.
Best Regards,"
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