“Trail rover will make its first trip to Mars on March 4, 2021 (Photo courtesy of NASA).
NASA’s Mars Exploration Program recently launched the “Send Your Name to Mars” campaign, which included “Taiwan” as an option for “country” on its official registration page. The Chinese netizens found it.
A screenshot of the NASA “Send Your Name to Mars” campaign website before the “country” option was changed to “location.
Asked about the issue at a March 31 briefing, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Communist Party‘s Taiwan Affairs Office, said, “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China’s territory. I hope NASA, as an agency of the U.S. federal government, will respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three U.S.-China joint communiqués, and correct the relevant mistakes as soon as possible.”
In an opinion piece published on March 29, People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, said, “NASA actually listed Taiwan as a ‘country,’ whether intentionally or unintentionally, whether it was a bumper sticker or ignorant, such a mistake is inexcusable. “
Beijing, which views Taiwan as a province to be reunified, is extra sensitive to the issue and has made great efforts to suppress Taiwan’s international viability.
Screenshot of NASA’s “Send Your Name to Mars” campaign after changes.
As you can see, changes have been made to the NASA website.
A search of the Wayback Machine, a digital archive, shows that as of March 30, the drop-down menu on NASA’s “Send Your Name to Mars” page still uses The “Country” tab with “Taiwan” as an option. However, on March 31, you can see that the drop-down menu has been changed to “Location”, and when you click on it, the words “Select a country/region/territory” appear at the top, and “Taiwan” is still in the list.
An email request for comment was sent to NASA, but no response was received by press Time.
Recent Comments