Apple Inc. (AAPL) Rectifies Taiwan’s Description In Map App

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has modified its previous description about Taiwan on its map app after a strong stand taken by the Taiwanese government against the U.S. firm. Anna Kao, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman said that Apple made a good gesture by changing the name simply to Taiwan, says a report from the state-run Central News Agency (CNA).Apple Inc. (AAPL) Rectifies Taiwan's Description In Map App

Mistake rectified by Apple

The government of Taiwan broke into action after it received complaints from Taiwanese citizens, who are using Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) mobile devices running iOS7. Kao said that the Ministry’s branch in San Francisco has been told by Apple that the issue is resolved now.

“Our office also demanded that Apple correct its mistake as soon as possible,” Kao said.

According to CNA, Taiwan is officially known as the Republic of China, which is sometimes mistaken to be a province of China, but the communist government in Beijing has never ruled the island. Taiwan is deservedly sensitive on how it is addressed. According to local newspapers, Apple opted to correct the name as a friendly gesture.

Taiwan acted strongly

Earlier this week, the Taiwanese government was displeased with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for misrepresenting Taiwan’s name. Kelly Hsieh, head of the ministry’s Department of North American Affairs said that country “has made representations” to Apple. Hsieh said that designation of the mapping is not true, and degrades Taiwan’s sovereignty, also adding that matters like this will not be overlooked.

“We have expressed our intense dissatisfaction to the company and demanded that it amend the error immediately,” Hsieh added.

Apart from iPhone, Mac OS X Mavericks also contains the misleading description. Taiwanese iPhone users expressed their concerns on an online forum as they do not like to be mistaken for Chinese people. Earlier, Apple’s map app identified the island nation as a province of China.

A longtime dispute

Around 23 countries recognize Taiwan by the disputed name and China claims that the island is a part of greater China, though Taiwan has always voiced anger over it being called a part of China.

Earlier, China warned Taiwan that it will use force to add the island to the mainland, but relations between both the provinces have seen some bright spots in the recent years. The government in Taipei headed by Ma Ying-jeou is aggressively promoting trade and tourism opportunities.

Prior to this tension between Taiwan and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), the island nation protested after Apple revealed the location of a secret radar station in Hsinchu County earlier this year.

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