[cooperation-wg] Discuss ISO-3166 mark TAIWAN as a Provinces of China on the RIPE NCC website

Dear Tsung-Yi Yu,

as I've been interested in ISO 3166 matters since the early nineties, 
let me try and respond simply to this.
The ISO 3166 List is maintained by the International Organization for 
Standardization (ISO).
Information about the list is given on: 
https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html

The Code for Taiwan is published at: 
https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:code:3166:TW

ISO has a process by which they define the naming in relation to a code 
such as TW and this information comes from United Nations sources 
(Terminology Bulletin Country Names and the Country and Region Codes for 
Statistical Use maintained by the United Nations Statistics Divisions).

Thus RIPE has nothing to do with the current naming convention for TW. 
It just follows the ISO 3166 code.

I hope this helps,

Olivier


On 19/03/2024 14:22, SteveYi Yo wrote:
> Dear Members of the Cooperation Working Group,
>
> I am Tsung-Yi Yu from Taiwan, a user of RIPE NCC's services since 2019 
> with a deep interest in Global Internet Governance.
>
> I wish to address the classification of Taiwan on RIPE NCC's website, 
> particularly regarding Country Codes and RIRs: 
> https://www.ripe.net/membership/member-support/list-of-members/list-of-country-codes-and-rirs/. 
> Taiwan is listed as a "Province of China," which may cause confusion 
> and misinterpretation.
>
> Some of the Individuals and legal entities in Taiwan are using RIPE 
> NCC services like Atlas/RIPEstat. However, the current classification 
> does not accurately reflect Taiwan's status. I reached out to RIPE NCC 
> Support, learning that changes to this classification are currently 
> not possible since they have already implemented the ISO-3166.
>
> Notably, the NRO/APNIC does not refer to Taiwan as a "Province of 
> China" but rather by its "economy": 
> https://www.nro.net/list-of-country-codes-in-the-apnic-region/ and 
> https://www.apnic.net/about-apnic/corporate-documents/documents/corporate/apnic-service-region/. 
> This approach avoids political sensitivities and ensures clarity.
>
> As I know, the RIPE NCC is operating under a Multi-Stakeholder model 
> (community), and follows different guidelines from entities like the 
> UN/IGF. Even the ICANN, does not label Taiwan as a "Province of China" 
> outside its GAC committee.
>
> That's why I would like to discuss this in here and wish the RIPE NCC 
> to reconsider its classification of Taiwan, promoting accuracy and 
> respect in global internet governance.
>
> Please feel free to share your opinion. Thank you!
>
> Best,
> Tsung-Yi Yu
>
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