No contest is too obscure in Taiwan’s quest for global recognition

JUST 13 OF THE 193 countries in the UN recognise the Republic of China as a sovereign country, among them such diplomatic heavyweights as Belize, Eswatini and Tuvalu. The name Taiwan, by which it is more commonly known, annoys the much larger People’s Republic of China, which insists (with menaces) that organisations from the WTO to the International Society for Horticultural Science refer to the island as “Chinese Taipei”. Small wonder that Taiwan’s 24m people are constantly looking for ways to affirm that they are not, in fact, ruled by the authoritarian regime in Beijing. Often they rejoice in victories that others might deem inconsequential.