HONOLULU -- In ancient China, a rational sage named Hsun Tzu fashioned what came to be a principle of Chinese thought, the rectification of names. It was vital to clear thinking, Hsun Tzu said, that things be called by the right name.
"All that are alike are given the same name; all that are unalike are given different names," said Hsun Tzu, not to be confused with the strategist Sun Tzu. If things are correctly identified, he said, "There is no longer the danger of people's ideas not being understood or of people's affairs being hampered."
In Taiwan today, Hsun Tzu would applaud a movement that is gathering speed, to change the name of the island's government from the Republic of China to the Republic of Taiwan. Advocates, including President Chen Shui-bian and former President Lee Teng-hui, contend that the Republic of China no longer exists and has renounced its claims to rule all of China.