> -----Original Message----- > From: dircha [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, 5 April 2004 1:54 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: why must Debian call Taiwan a "Province of China"? > > > Bruce Miller wrote: > > It is perfectly reasonable of Debian to adopt an international > > standard. > > It raises Debian above the debate which is taking place here. > > I protest. It is not perfectly reasonable. This is not a > political issue > for me. I have no established opinion as to whether or not Taiwan is > properly a "Province of China." > > Debian does not obtain neutrality by selecting an existing political > compromise and simply saying, "That's it, we don't want to get > involved." Simply saying something does not make it so. As I > explained > at length, "Province of China" serves no legitimate purpose in the > selection of a locale. Its sole purpose is to convey a political > statement (a relation of political authority of a part to a whole) > beyond this single purpose, a statement which is highly > controversial. > Debian can not hide behind "it is a standard". As I have thoroughly > explained previously, selecting "Taiwan, Province of China" > is a choice > (a selection made without necessity), and is not a choice > warranted by > any practical consideration. > > The "perfectly reasonable" option is to remove the political > commentary, > "Province of China" and to stop hiding behind "it is a standard," an > appeal to authority, as if that could legitimize the inclusion of an > assertion of a political relation, where there ought not to be one. > > Even now, selecting "Taiwan" is not to select, "not Province > of China." > Rather, it is to de-politicize the statement altogether. > "Taiwan" does > not mean, "Taiwan, not Province of China." It is neutral on > the issue. > Publications around the world and in China itself employ "Taiwan" > independently of "Taiwan, Province of China." > > Neither is the act itself of now removing "Province of China" a > political act. It is an act by a party that wishes to remain > neutral to > de-politicize the a representation of a locale. Further, no practical > value is lost by de-politicizing this representation, for > "Province of > China" served no practical or non-political end to begin with. > > dircha > >
Microsoft Server 2003 uses "Taiwan". I can't work out what OSX uses as each country in the country list is shown in the alphabet/font/language of the country. Presumably it's one of the ones with dots and squiggles. (yes, the're all dot and sqiggles to someone, I know)
