''TOR Books'' webmaster now has the URL to manually fix the ISO countries list, which includes this infamous "Taiwan, province of China" (they most certainly did not intend that result). If their webmaster is open-minded enough, please refer them to this manual correction: Their website might be using the ISO countries list, which includes this infamous "Taiwan, province of China" (they most certainly did not intend that result). If their webmaster is open-minded enough, please refer them to this manual correction -- https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/2595595 :
Some news about sci-fi imprint TOR Books' webmaster's ''issues'' with PRC communist China and TOR's unintended prejudice against Taiwanese sci-fi fans:
With this URL I am sending to TOR, ''TOR Books'' webmaster now has access to the URL to manually ''fix'' the ISO ''countries'' list, which includes this infamous "Taiwan, province of China" non country (and TOR most certainly did not intend that result). If their webmaster is open-minded enough, please refer him or her to this manual correction:
Update the country list to match latest CLDR
https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/2595595
with some commentary and tweets pro and con from Friends of Tor, including this blogger:
TRY TO Register HERE and see if you can find a country called Taiwan on the drop down menu.
You can't because CHINA won't allow it.
But TOR CAN FIX the problem manually here:
Tor.com membership is your all-access pass to science fiction, fantasy, the universe…and beyond!
See
at TOR.COM, at the current time you must say that your country is
"Taiwan, Province of China" (sic) which of course is a lie
and not true at all, since there is no country with that Orwellian Nonsenese of a name,
LETTER ] - Taipei Times http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2018/05/28/2003693846 關於「orwellian nonsense」的媒體圖片 (來源：
自由時報電子報) 自由時報電子報
[ LETTER ]
Appeal to Scifi Tor Books to stop kowtowing to Red China Orwellian nonsense
As readers who follow the news know, Communist PRC China has sent a threatening letter to a large number of international airlines demanding that they change the country code for Taiwan (TW) on their schedules to China (CN), as dictated by Beijing’s “one China” principle. However, standing up for Taiwan’s international space and presence, on May 5 US President Donald Trump’s administration issued a statement condemning China’s science fictional “demand” as “Orwellian nonsense” through which China was trying to impose its own political claims on private companies around the world. It’s like the British novels Nighteen Eighty-four and Animal Farm have come to life in 2018. Believe it or not, a major sci-fi publishing company in New York, the most prestigious science fiction publisher in the world, Tor Books, whose editors know all about the Nighteen Eighty-four and Animal Farm, also kowtows to Beijing’s “one China” nonsense by asking Taiwanese sci-fi fans who want to sign up at the Tor Web site (tor.com/register) to list their country on the site’s drop-down menu as either “China” or “Taiwan, province of China.” Yes, the world-famous sci-fi Web site run by Tor Books does not allow Taiwanese sci-fi fans to list their country as “Taiwan.” Yet as readers know, Taiwan is a free and independent democracy, which abides by international law and has never been a part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Chinese claim that Taiwan is part of the PRC is a silly nationalistic sci-fi illusion, with no basis in international law. By forcing Taiwanese sci-fi fans to register on the Web site as being from either “China” or “Taiwan, province of China,” Tor’s editors and Web site managers are showing a terrible and naive bias to Taiwanese fans. Tor’s editors are probably not even aware of this oversight on their registration form, thus this letter, and hopefully a change in the Web site’s current Orwellian nonsense. I hope that Tor Books, once its editors read this letter, will do the right thing and stand up for Taiwan on its online registration form and show science fiction fans around the world that US sci-fi Web sites do not kowtow to China. -- Signed, ''George Orwell'' Taipei ......This ARTICLE has been viewed 152,880 times.
TWITTER CONVO WITH A WHITE AMERICAN SCI FI FAN AND TOR BOOKS READER in USA:
1. Hey Dan, interesting information re the TOR brouhaha keeping Taiwanese sci-fi fans off TOR's website registration form. But I suspect that this is a MacMillan Publishing Corporation decision, and if they didn't, Commie China might restrict their abiility to sell books there. It doesn't make it right, but a lot of the world goes for this "One China" sort of rhetorical game. it's not a Tor books problem. ...just ask the Tibetans!
2. Hey Dan, as an American who is a sci-fi geek, I can't speak for Tor Books, since I don't work for them, I just read their books. I would say though that the entire world's relationship to the China-Taiwan situation is something that is fraught.
3. Uh, Dan, you said in your naivete that PRC China won't attack TOR if TOR allows Taiwanese to register on its site as being from ''Taiwan?''? ....WTF? ....MacMillian IS one of the big five publishers in the world, and TOR has been trying to get more Chinese language SF translated. I am very sure China knows who Tor is...and MacMillian is likely loath to risk it without seeing the downside of inaction.''
4. ''Yo Dan, sure TOR could start allowing Taiwanese sci-fi fans to register on the online registratation form as being from a cpountryu called Taiwan or The Republic of China, take your pick, rather than forcing them now as they do to say their country is "Taiwan, Province of China, which is an outright communist lie which TOR is kowtowing to in order to do business with China, they could (and thank you for bringing this to my attention here) but if the consequences for not doing so outweighed the consequences for doing so. I suspect MacMillian and TOR won't easily see the former ever being greater than the latter
For, sadly,remember, corporations are alien psychopaths.''
5. ''Hey, Dan,
what you said in your tweet, that goes to my point, though, Your point is "isn't it awful that Tor is doing this", my greater point is that it's a bigger issue than the SF imprint of a big publisher.''
TWITTER CONVO WITH A WHITE AMERICAN SCI FI FAN AND TOR BOOKS READER in USA:
1. Hey Dan, interesting information re the TOR brouhaha keeping Taiwanese sci-fi fans off TOR's website registration form. But I suspect that this is a MacMillan Publishing Corporation decision, and if they didn't, Commie China might restrict their abiility to sell books there. It doesn't make it right, but a lot of the world goes for this "One China" sort of rhetorical game. it's not a Tor books problem. ...just ask the Tibetans!
2. Hey Dan, as an American who is a sci-fi geek, I can't speak for Tor Books, since I don't work for them, I just read their books. I would say though that the entire world's relationship to the China-Taiwan situation is something that is fraught.
3. Uh, Dan, you said in your naivete that PRC China won't attack TOR if TOR allows Taiwanese to register on its site as being from ''Taiwan?''? ....WTF? ....MacMillian IS one of the big five publishers in the world, and TOR has been trying to get more Chinese language SF translated. I am very sure China knows who Tor is...and MacMillian is likely loath to risk it without seeing the downside of inaction.''
4. ''Yo Dan, sure TOR could start allowing Taiwanese sci-fi fans to register on the online registratation form as being from a cpountryu called Taiwan or The Republic of China, take your pick, rather than forcing them now as they do to say their country is "Taiwan, Province of China, which is an outright communist lie which TOR is kowtowing to in order to do business with China, they could (and thank you for bringing this to my attention here) but if the consequences for not doing so outweighed the consequences for doing so. I suspect MacMillian and TOR won't easily see the former ever being greater than the latter
For, sadly,remember, corporations are alien psychopaths.''
5. ''Hey, Dan,
what you said in your tweet, that goes to my point, though, Your point is "isn't it awful that Tor is doing this", my greater point is that it's a bigger issue than the SF imprint of a big publisher.''
1 comment:
37
Post a Comment