Taiwan boycotts WTO meeting over “province of China” designation
Taiwan has withdrawn from a high-level World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Cameroon after being labeled as “a province of China” in official documents issued by the host country.
Taipei’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed it filed a formal protest, stating the designation was unacceptable. The documents prepared for Taiwan’s delegation ahead of the March 28–29 meeting triggered strong objections from the government.
Although Cameroon later attempted to resolve the issue by issuing visa exemption documents, Taiwan cited multiple irregularities, including missing nationality details, spelling errors in English names, and incorrect gender identification for several delegates.
Taiwan stated these issues demonstrate a lack of sincerity in addressing the matter and accused Cameroon of yielding to external influence.
It reiterated that it participates in the WTO as a “separate customs territory” with equal rights that must not be undermined.
As of now, neither the WTO nor China has issued an official response.