Taiwan authorities to issue fresh passport with updated cover design from Jan 11

Taiwan is set to issue a newly designed passport to its people from January 11, 2021, the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed on Wednesday. The new passport cover design highlighting the country's name was announced in September amid China's growing aggressiveness.

'Republic of China' shrunk

According to an official statement issued by the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the new passport is designed to make the identification of Taiwanese citizens easier. The font size of the word 'Taiwan' has been enlarged in the new passport design and placed directly above the word 'passport', making the words 'Taiwan Passport' more identifiable, the ministry said while adding that the words 'Republic of China' has been shrunk, making it hard to see in the first glimpse.

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Furthermore, the word 'Taiwan' placed below the emblem on the new passport, has not only been made noticeably larger but also been repositioned, according to a report by Focus Taiwan.

"The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in January this year prompted the Legislative Yuan to pass a resolution in late July aimed at preventing holders of the Republic of China (Taiwan) passport from being mistaken for citizens of the People's Republic of China, which has impacted their rights and caused inconvenience when traveling abroad," Taiwan MOFA statement had said.

The resolution called on the executive branch to propose concrete measures to make the word 'Taiwan' more prominent on the Republic of China (Taiwan) passport so as to ensure the dignity of Taiwanese nationals and facilitate their safe and convenient international travel, the statement read. 

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(With ANI inputs)