German video game ad labels China as 'West Taiwan'
Dec 14, 2021
Taipei [Taiwan], December 14 : German video game 'Conflict of Nations: WW3' ad posted a map of China labelling it as 'West Taiwan'.
The advertisement apparently appeared some time in early December, with many netizens first sharing and commenting on it on December 3, reported Taiwan News.
The real-time massively multiplayer online game is set in the 20th and 21st centuries and simulates a third world war with multiple maps and scenarios to choose from. In each match, up to 128 real opponents can participate as they try to lead their countries in becoming the "dominating superpower on the planet."
The ad has since disappeared, and the map inside the game itself follows countries' standard official names and boundaries.
Earlier this month, a Facebook advertisement for Conflict of Nations: World War 3, which was developed by the German video game company Bytro Labs, surfaced showing a map depicting most of China as "West Taiwan." The region of Xinjiang was listed as an independent country called "Uyghur," while Mongolia is labelled as "China".
The use of the term "West Taiwan" to mock China has steadily grown in popularity since January 2020 when President Tsai Ing-wen said that Beijing needs to face the reality that Taiwan is already an independent country.
At the time, netizens conjured terms such as "Mainland Taiwan," "Taiwanese Beijing," and "West Taiwan" to agitate Chinese nationalists, censors, and trolls, reported Taiwan News.
In May of this year, Toronto Sun columnist Brian Lilley tweeted a map with China labelled as "West Taiwan" that quickly went viral.
