The Little Bird Club has become the front line in China’s assertion of territorial sovereignty over Taiwan, after the UK-based International Bird Federation removed Taiwan’s Chinese Bird Federation from its official partnership and the latter changed its English name from Chinese to Taiwan instead.
The Taiwan-based organization, known as the Republic of China Wild Bird Federation (CWBF), announced Friday (Sept. 25) that it is changing its English name from Chinese Wild Bird Federation (CWBF) to Taiwan Wild Bird Federation (TWBF), according to Deutsche Welle.
According to an earlier announcement by the CWBF on its website, Cambridge-based BirdLife International said it wanted “China, Taiwan” to appear in its name to comply with international principles, but the CWBF rejected the change.
Reuters reports that China has increased pressure on the international group to recognize that Taiwan belongs to China under the one-China principle, angering the government and people of Taiwan.
According to Taiwan, Birding International had previously demanded that the Chinese Birding Association stop using “Republic of China” in its official name, or other expressions that imply Taiwan’s independence, and that they sign a pledge “not to promote or advocate the legitimacy of the Republic of China and Taiwan’s independence from China.
The Chinese Birding Association stated that, as a non-governmental organization for wild bird conservation, they have never expressed a position on any such issue, and that they considered it inappropriate to sign such a document, so they refused to sign it, emphasizing that “the Chinese Birding Association is not a political pusher, we are a conservation organization!
“China-Taiwan” is exactly what Beijing has always demanded of Taiwan’s participation in international organizations. However, it is unclear whether Beijing is directly involved in the International Bird Federation.
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