NEW DELHI: While the renaming of
Taiwan as Chinese Taipei by
Air India (AI) has created an uproar here, the government seems convinced that the step taken by the national carrier is in line with international practices. Official sources who spoke to TOI on the issue insisted that what AI did had nothing to do with One China policy which Beijing wants India and others to follow.
"It neither negates nor reaffirms any policy on China" said a source familiar with the issue.
India stopped mentioning 'One China' in its joint statements with Beijing in 2010, and has maintained a deliberate ambiguity on the issue since. Any Indian government though is unlikely to bring that mention back until Beijing acknowledges India's sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh and the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Lodging a protest against AI's decision, Taiwan's representative here had said that this "gesture" could be seen as succumbing to unreasonable and absurd pressure from China.
The government, however, believes this reaction was slightly over the top because of the following reasons:
First, as sources here said, the foreign ministry only "advised" AI to follow "international nomenclature" and that the final decision was left to the carrier.
Second, major international organisations like
World Bank and International Monetary Fund refer to Taiwan as Chinese Taipei. Taiwan's membership of
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is also in the name of Chinese Taipei.
The third reason which apparently prompted the "advice" to AI was that Taiwan was participating in major international sporting events like Olympics and Asian Games also in the name of Chinese Taipei.
Fourth, even Taiwan's representative office here uses Taipei and not Taiwan. The office is called Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC).
The fact that major international airlines like Lufthansa and
British Airways earlier this year acknowledged self-ruled Taiwan as a part of China seems to have played on the minds of AI.
A few airlines in the US though, with support from the State Department, have refused to follow the diktat which is widely seen as symptomatic of China's revisionist policies.
Many in India though see India's "advice" to AI as coming against the run of play which saw the government even hosting a parliamentary delegation from Taiwan last year in February. China had strongly objected to the visit and asked India to adhere to the One China policy which underscores Beijing's claims over Taiwan.
Even earlier, under the UPA government, India had used Taiwan for subtle messaging to China. In April 2014, TOI had reported how then Taiwan vice-president Wu Den-yih was allowed a layover at a Delhi airport en route Rome. Wu spent several hours in transit at the airport where he interacted with senior government officials as his aircraft was refueled. This was the first time that a senior political leader from Taiwan set foot on Delhi soil.
The AI decision is being seen by many as in line with recent attempts by India to mend ties with China even at the cost of appearing as pandering to Chinese whims.
"This is just the latest Indian step this year to propitiate China. Has China taken even a tiny step to commit itself to a "one India" policy?" tweeted strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney.