More Reaction to the "Taiwan Coup" and a Metro Vancouver Correction

Metro Vancouver mistakenly identifying Taiwan as the location of a coup has led to a variety of responses. In the Taipei Times, Shelley Shan reported reactions which highlight that, for some, Metro Vancouver's error was a familiar one:

[Canadian Joel Charron, an English teacher in Taiwan,] added that the editor of Metro was probably not the only person in Canada who confuses Taiwan with Thailand.

“When I first got here [Taiwan], some people back in Canada thought I was in Thailand. I got concerned e-mails after the tsunami in 2004, asking if I was safe,” he said. . . .

Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Wayne Liu (劉喜臨) said the incident has served to remind the bureau to work harder to promote Taiwan abroad so foreigners will not keep confusing it with Thailand.

As Shan also notes, additional reaction included the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Vancouver formally requesting a correction.

Not surprisingly, Metro Vancouver has agreed that there was not a military coup in Taiwan. In its Monday, May 26, print edition a correction was provided. Here is a screen shot from the online version of a portion of page 3:

So I believe that ties things up regarding Metro Vancouver's eye-catching headline. But as Taiwan's Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General's comment indicated, challenges lie ahead if Taiwan desires to reduce the number of people confusing it with Thailand.

Finally, even though I am already familiar with both Taiwan and Thailand, in the process of writing these posts I still learned a few things, including, based on the information below the correction, that Vancouver has a Gastown.

Hopefully nobody confuses it with Gassville.