Google Challenged By Chinese Government

October 4, 2005

Taiwan's government asks Web search company Google Inc. to stop calling the self-governing island a "province of China" on its Google Maps service.

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province. It has also warned to attack the island if it insists on formal statehood. The two countries separated in a civil war, which ended in 1949. Taiwan insists it is a sovereign, independent state.

Foreign ministry spokesman Michel Lu says, "It is incorrect to call Taiwan a province of China because we are not. We have contacted Google to express our position and asked them to correct the description."