Google.com changed the wording on one of its maps due to
complaints from supporters of the island's pan-Green alliance (a
pro-independence coalition of the ruling Democratic Progressive
Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union), China Daily reported
yesterday.
The world's largest internet search engine replaced the words
"Taiwan, a province of the People's Republic of China" with arrows
and other controls with which the map can be moved or enlarged.
Peng Keyu, consul general of the Chinese consulate in San
Francisco, voiced objection to Google's decision and urged it to
follow the US government's allegiance to the one-China principle,
according to SingTao Daily.
Google spokesperson Debbie Frost said the alteration was part of
a "regular update" of all its map pages rather than a specific move
to change the Taiwan page.
Li Xinpei, former president of North Californian Council for the
Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, expressed his
disappointment with the removal of the words, saying that whatever
Google's intention was it should bear the one-China principle in
mind.
Zhang Shaofu, a US scholar, said the updated web page might
mislead Americans, Google's largest single consumer group, and
overseas Chinese elsewhere about the status of Taiwan.
Google is a California-based NASDAQ-listed company whose
services are utilized by 380 million unique internet users per
month, according to their website, and with the mission of
"organizing the world's information and making it universally
accessible and useful."
(China Daily October 20, 2005)