Taiwanese Government Not Happy Apple Maps Labels Them As A Province Of China

While the Chinese government considers Taiwan part of them, the Taiwanese government and the people beg to differ and would prefer to consider themselves an independent nation. While that topic is hotly debated with the potential for war, Apple seems to have decided to lump Taiwan together with the rest of China, referring to the country as a province in China for their Maps application on both iOS and OS X Mavericks. Naturally the Taiwanese government is having none of it and has since released a statement on the matter. According to a ministry official, “The maps don’t acknowledge Taiwan as its own nation. We voiced our disapproval and hope Apple will make the change.”

This is not the first time that Apple has run into political disputes when it comes to its Maps app. Previously the South Korean government had complained that a chain of islands should have had its name written in Korean, indicating that the territory belongs to them despite Japan claiming ownership as well. Apple has yet to respond on the matter, but what do you guys think of these political disputes? Should companies such as Apple impose their own beliefs and political stance when it comes to such disputes, or should it be left entirely up to the user to decide? Google’s method was simply to refer to the region as Taiwan, and nothing more. Is that what Apple will do?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple
Tags: Apps, maps