Mainland justifies Taiwan name change in media

The mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang addresses a media briefing. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

The Chinese mainland on Wednesday dismissed accusations that the mainland has "dwarfed" Taiwan by changing how the island is addressed on mainstream media.

Chinese mainland's China Central Television addressed Taiwan at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships on April 11 as "Zhongguo Taipei" instead of "Zhonghua Taipei."

Zhongguo and Zhonghua both mean China, but Zhonghua refers to a general concept of a Chinese nation, while Zhongguo refers to the People's Republic of China.

The change has sparked criticism from Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Katherine Chang, who said that her "government" would not accept this "unilateral act of dwarfing" from the mainland.

The mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said Wednesday that mainland media has always reported on Taiwan-related events according to the one-China policy, and that the so-called "act of dwarfing" does not exist.

"Our policy is consistent and has not changed. Taiwan's table tennis team is participating based on arrangements made by Olympic committees across the Taiwan Straits."

The change of how Taiwan was addressed on mainland TV comes at a time when cross-Straits relations continue to deteriorate.

The Tsai Ing-wen "administration" in Taiwan refuses to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus, which stresses the one-China policy, since it came to power in May last year despite repeated calls from the mainland.

Her attitude has irritated Beijing, which considers the 1992 Consensus the very foundation of all cooperation.

As a consequence, the number of mainland tourists to Taiwan has fallen 36.2 percent in the seven months since Tsai's inauguration.

Ma also reiterated that the mainland government welcomes Taiwan businessmen to participate in the Belt and Road initiative. However, he did not directly say whether representatives from the island would be present at next month's forum.

"The forum is an international event where representatives from relevant countries will attend on the host's invitation," Ma noted.