Taiwan, Thailand and Tailand
While I was studying toward my master's degree in journalism at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, I was invited to speak at a local Rotary Club meeting about my country, Taiwan. I wasn't prepared to hear many Rotarians call Taiwan Thailand. Some even asked me whether Taiwan was part of Thailand.
It was early in the 1960s, and many Illinoisans simply didn't know where Taiwan was located, though they were familiar with Thailand because they had either read Margaret Landon's "Anna and the King of Siam" or seen its adaptation, "The King and I."
Well, I couldn't blame the Americans for their unintended mistake. After all, Taiwan is very far away from the United States, the beloved mother country they consider the center of the world. The Republic of China? A few Rotarians knew what the R.O.C. was, but didn't know the difference between it and Taiwan.
Then last Tuesday, to my shock, I read news reports that our President Tsai Ing-wen had misspelled "Thailand" when writing in the book of condolence at the Thai Trade and Economic Office in Taipei the previous day.
Accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee, Tsai visited the de facto Thai embassy in Taipei to express her condolences and pay tribute to Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who passed away Oct. 13 at the age of 88 after a 70-year reign.
Thai Representative Piroon Laismit showed Tsai a number of photographs hung on a wall of a makeshift mourning room that featured King Bhumibol on a visit to Taiwan in 1963. After seeing the pictures, Tsai said she still had memories of the 1963 royal visit and praised the late king for leading "the country through a stable transformation into a modern state, and was deeply respected in the international community for his outstanding contributions."
However, Tsai misspelled "Thailand" in her message in the condolence book, which she signed as "Ing-wen Tsai, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)." The message read: "On behalf of the people of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I hereby extend my most profound condolences to the Royal Family and the people of Tailand for their loss of a great leader, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej."
Such a misspelling is a very serious failing of diplomatic protocol. That's why the Presidential Office immediately confirmed that Tsai had apologized to the Thai authorities through the Foreign Ministry, though Lee, who accompanied her on her visit to the Thai office, nonchalantly explained that such misspellings "frequently occur and are not rare because everybody in a hurry tend to make them." Bangkok said the situation was understandable and expressed gratitude to her and the people of Taiwan for the care and concern they had demonstrated to Thailand.
But Tsai isn't just an "everybody" like every one of us. She is the "President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)," as she signed in the condolence book in Taipei, and she is the "President of Taiwan (R.O.C.)", as she signed in the visitor list at the ceremonies celebrating the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in June.
How could this misspelling have occurred? Thailand is much, much closer to Taiwan than the United States, where she got her master's degree in law from Cornell University in 1980, as well as than Great Britain, from where Anna left to travel to Siam and teach that country's king. On graduation, Tsai went to the United Kingdom from the United States to obtain her Ph.D. in law from the London School of Economics, completing it in 1984.
Why did Tsai sign as "President of Taiwan (R.O.C.)" in Panama City but as the "President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)" in Taipei? The well-calculated reason is not far to seek. She wanted to show around Taiwan's flag in Panama to please her hardcore independence supporters but didn't wish to antagonize most of the people who want to keep Taiwan as the Republic of China.
Of course, it's possible that Tsai can't tell Thailand and Tailand apart, because phonically they are the same. I don't believe she doesn't know what Thailand is. At least, she must have studied some world history in high school; in these textbooks, Thailand is described not in English but in Chinese as Taiguo (泰國). She may have not bothered herself to find out its English spelling, for she thinks Thailand, which had been known as Siam (暹羅) before the current name of the kingdom was adopted in 1939, is unimportant.
Probably, a very calculating, careful and wise woman like Tsai may have an unwary oversight once in a long while. Nevertheless, as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan), she can never allow herself to make that unforgivable mistake, and Lee should not explain away the misspelling by saying that "to err is human."
In the meantime, Lee has to make sure that Tsai can correctly pronounce and spell the names of Taiwan's diplomatic allies such as Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Sao Tome and Principe. It may be a tremendous job.
