《TAIPEI TIMES》 NGOs abandon platform over Taiwan name issue

The home page of GlobalGiving is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Screengrab from GlobalGiving’s Web site

GLOBALGIVING: ‘Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said

By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA A slew of non-government organizations （NGOs） have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month.

The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China.

Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said.

“Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the nation in which we are based,” it said.

The Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association said on Facebook that it would sever ties with GlobalGiving tomorrow, as it has no reason to continue associating with a platform uninterested in raising the profile of Taiwanese civil society.

GlobalGiving’s communications indicate that it had bowed to Chinese pressure and protests had fallen on deaf ears, the gender rights association said.

It is alarming that the platform’s concession on one matter could open the door for Beijing to impose further restrictions on Taiwan-based entities or exclude them altogether, it said.

It said that it would find other partners who share its values and respect Taiwan’s national sovereignty.

The Judicial Reform Foundation said that it would end all ties with the platform by tomorrow as it “solemnly protests” GlobalGiving’s degrading renaming of Taiwan.

“The global fundraising platform caving to improper external pressure is unacceptable for an organization that has dedicated itself for more than 30 years to cultivating justice reform and human rights in Taiwan,” it said.

“Although the decision would directly impact our ability to raise funds or conduct exchanges internationally, we must safeguard the bottom line for our autonomy, agency and dignity as a member of Taiwanese civil society,” it said.

The Reporter Cultural Foundation, which runs the independent Chinese-language media Web site The Reporter, said it has used the platform since last year to host fundraising campaigns and provide tax-deductible receipts for donors in the US and the UK.

However, GlobalGiving this month informed users that it would change the listed location for all Taiwanese NGOs from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” the foundation said.

Despite advocating alongside other civic groups on the platform, GlobalGiving has maintained its decision to proceed with the change, the foundation said.

It would stop using the platform from tomorrow and instead look for alternative channels that can continue to issue tax-deductible receipts for donors in the US and UK, it added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES