The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women has removed an image that labeled Taiwan as a province of China from its Facebook page following protests by Taiwanese, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The organization, also known as UN Women, on Sunday last week posted the image of the flags of nations and regions that legally recognize same-sex marriages.

Taiwan, which in May became the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage, was listed along with the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand and other countries.

However, the image identified the nation as “Taiwan, Province of China,” sparking criticism, with a deluge of people protesting on UN Women’s Facebook page with comments saying that “Taiwan is Taiwan, not a part of China.”

The UN talks “about human rights all the time, yet it always chooses the side of the oppressor,” one Facebook user said.

The ministry yesterday found that the image’s Facebook link was invalid, meaning that UN Women might have taken it down as a result of a solemn protest filed by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, as well as criticism from people who support Taiwan, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.

The ministry would closely watch UN Women’s subsequent actions and take timely, proper action in response, she said.

UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, which the UN often refers to when excluding Taiwan’s 23 million people from its affiliated events, does not recognize Taiwan as a part of China, Ou said.

If the UN’s founding purpose is to serve all people, it should seek proper ways to include Taiwanese to realize its ideal of universality and tolerance, Ou added.

[Taipei Times, 2019-08-11]