Last month I picked up a copy of Newsweek just before boarding a plane in Beijing for the US. The issue focused on women across the globe. Inside was an interesting table placing American women in comparative context. A thick black line was placed through the word "country" at the top of the second column. Given that Taiwan is mentioned in table -- not once but twice -- I can understand how this kind of thing might be insulting to Mainland readers. However, I can't think of a good substitute word to put in that location. "Region," "authority," "island," "location," etc, don't fit there.
There may be another explanation. Not nationalism, but prudishness. Perhaps censors were upset that Taiwanese women apparently have the world's highest ownership rate for vibrators, and discussion of such things shouldn't be so public. Or was it both?
At least Taiwanese women are good in math!
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