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ETS kowtows to Beijing by posting 'Taiwan, China' on TOEFL site


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Taiwanese students preparing to take the Test of Engli
sh as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) became incensed when they discovered Educatio
nal Testing Service (ETS) had kowtowed to Beijing's bullying by changing its l
isting of Taiwan to "Taiwan, China" on its corporate website, leading to angry
 letters and threats to switch to its rival.

Students at English cram schools in Taiwan in recent days discovered that the
TOEFL registration page for the US-based, supposedly "nonprofit" testing servi
ce ETS had suddenly changed its listing for "Taiwan" to "Taiwan, China." By Th
ursday of last week, Taiwanese netizens on the popular online forum PTT posted
 a screen capture of the change to the TOEFL registration page.

On Saturday (Aug. 18), an enraged Taiwanese posted to PTT an email he had sent
 to ETS complaining that both the registration page and their own personal add
ress had been suddenly been changed to "Taiwan, China." The student reminded E
TS of the fact that Taiwan has never actually been ruled by Communist China an
d that the U.S. should "stand for common values, which are democracy and human
 rights."

The student also reminded the "nonprofit" global conglomerate, which has been
accused of being a monopoly, that it should not be "begging for higher revenue
 from such an unfair market." He lamented that if the name is not changed back
 to simply "Taiwan" he said that he will be frustrated taking the TOEFL test w
hich "should represent inspiring 'American Values.'"

"I have done some TOEFL registrations via your official website. However, I am
 surprised to see that recently the website changed the location of 'Taiwan' t
o 'Taiwan, China', including my personal address. As a citizen living in democ
ratic and independent country, I am proud that we have our own government in T
aiwan and have never been ruled by China, communist party. As a leader of all
democratic countries, should the USA stand for common values, which are democr
acy and human rights, instead of begging for higher revenue from such an unfai
r market, which has manipulated the rest of the world for decades? I sincerely
 request you to change the description of location back to 'Taiwan' only. Or,
I will be very frustrated along with complex emotions regarding TOEFL tests th
at should represent inspiring 'American Values.'"

Screen capture of ETS TOEFEL registration page. (Taiwan News)

Today (Aug. 22) another, much longer letter directed at ETS was posted on PTT.
 A person who claimed to represent over 5,000 students preparing to take the T
OEFL requested that the corporation change the name back to "Taiwan" or "Taiwa
n, R.O.C." as is printed on their passports.

The author of the letter argued that the name change due is contrary to ETS's
stated mission to "advance quality and equity in education for all people worl
dwide." The student explained that having "Taiwan, China" on their transcript
would diminish from the diversity of backgrounds it professes and deprives the
m the opportunity to be distinguishable from Chinese students applying for uni
versities and graduate schools.

The writer then warned that if ETS refuses to correct the name, Taiwanese stud
ents could retaliate by taking the rival International English Language Testin
g System (IETLS) test instead, as the website still lists Taiwan as a separate
 country and on its transcript.

The following is the full text of the letter emailed to the ETS headquarters a
ddress etsinfo@ets.org and the ETS spokesperson's address tewing@ets.org sent
today (Aug. 22):

We are more than 5,000 students who plan to/are taking TOEFL this year. A few
days ago, we noticed that on the ETS website, “Taiwan ” has been changed to
“Taiwan, China” in both the nationality column upon registering for a test a
nd in the address section. We find this change really disappointing and firmly
 believe that this is against the values ETS strives to protect. Therefore, we
, the test-takers from Taiwan, strongly urge ETS to change the nationality bac
k to “Taiwan” only, or to “Taiwan, R.O.C” as that is what is shown on our
passport.

While we appreciate the effort ETS has spent on improving testing, teaching an
d learning, we think it is essential that the nonprofit ETS fights back on thr
eats or temptations to alter the pre- existing “Taiwan” nationality, for the
 action steers away from ETS’ mission to “advance quality and equity in educ
ation for all people worldwide”. We the Taiwanese test-takers firmly believe
that with “Taiwan, China” shown on our transcript, ETS not only denies the d
iverse student background it acknowledges and respects, but deprives the Taiwa
nese students of the chance to be seen as different from the Chinese students
by universities and graduate schools we wish to apply for. Born and raised in
Taiwan, we find our life stories very different from the Chinese applicants an
d consider it essential to emphasize the diversity we can bring to the foreign
 institutions we are applying for, and thus, we strongly urge ETS to change ou
r nationality back to “ Taiwan” only.

For the past years, most of the Taiwanese test-takers prefer TOEFL to IETLS. H
owever, the sudden change of “Taiwan” to “Taiwan, China” seems to us antit
hetical to the values that ETS as a nonprofit should protect and also steers a
way from what form the cornerstones of both U.S. and Taiwan’s democracy. This
 change then has to deal with the full force of the Taiwanese test-takers and
perhaps even the foreign institutions we wish to apply for. More than 5,000 of
 the Taiwanese test-takers this year and in the years to come might change our
 minds to take IELTS instead, as IELTS still lists “Taiwan” as a nation on i
ts website and on its transcript. We have also started writing to schools we w
ish to apply for, complaining about this change and asking the admission commi
ttees to value IETLS scores more. To avoid this action turning into a movement
, once again, we suggest ETS to change “ Taiwan, China” back to “Taiwan” o
nly.

All in all, we don’t see ETS’ concerns and action being legitimate in this c
ase, and we not only urge ETS to put “Taiwan ” back on its website, but ask
for an explanation to why this action has been taken. We strongly feel that on
ly by listing “ Taiwan” as a nation on the ETS website, can ETS live up to i
ts mission to “advance quality and equity in education for all people worldwi
de”, and can it win continuous support from the Taiwanese test-takers as well
 as the schools from around the world.
Because of its nonprofit status, ETS is not subject to taxes on its worldwide
earnings.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3512135

各位還在考托福嗎？

一人一信罵翻ET$吧！ 爛貨

到底在偷偷統戰三小

看了超怒

台灣要沉了嗎

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