'American Born Chinese' is an upcoming Disney+ series from Taiwanese-Chinese-American author Gene Luen Yang. In his book the character of Wei-Chen identifies as Taiwanese and is from Taiwan. Disney, however, has changed this with the most recent description stating that Wei-Chen is "from China."

While both Taiwanese and Chinese identities share some cultural and historical similarities, there are significant differences between the two. Taiwan has its own government, military, and legal system, and many Taiwanese people view themselves as a separate and independent nation from China.

With China's continued intimidation towards the self-governing nation of Taiwan, it is all the more inappropriate for a story which focuses on accepting your identity to remove the Taiwanese identity of Wei-Chen for political purposes. Not only does this compromise the message behind the story, but it also denies Taiwanese representation to Taiwanese individuals both within and outside of Taiwan who struggle to see themselves in all forms of media.

To quote the book itself:

Teacher: “Wei-Chen Sun! He and his family recently moved to our neighborhood all the way from China!”

Wei-Chen: “Taiwan.”

Teacher: “Taiwan!”

It's time to stop removing Taiwanese representation in media in order to satisfy the cravings of China, which is doing all it can to remove this identity and the livelihood of the people who have this identity.