RIPE NCC Response to the Taipei Representative Office
Response from the RIPE NCC Managing Director
Dear Ms. Hsin-Hsin Chen,
Thank you for your letter dated 3 May 2024 regarding the designation of Taiwan on the RIPE NCC website, and for your suggestions on ways to address this sensitive topic.
We are aware of concerns of the designation of Taiwan in our member directory. In response, I provided a detailed explanation on the RIPE Cooperation Working Group mailing list.
I would like to reiterate our position here. As a neutral organisation, the RIPE NCC does not make determinations regarding the names or status of countries. We assign country codes to resource holders using the internationally recognised ISO system, specifically the 3166-1 list. By strictly adhering to 3166-1, we remain neutral by relying on a third-party independent standard that is both impartial and recognised internationally.
This international standard helps us to keep registration information consistent and allows us to maintain an accurate database and provide other services across a region which includes 76 countries and a number of active conflicts and disputes. We can do this in a neutral and transparent manner, independently of the diverse positions of the many governments and organisations within our service region.
We note your suggestions regarding alternative approaches, including using the term “economies” rather than countries. While I can see the usefulness of this term in the APNIC region, it is not a concept the RIPE NCC uses. We also note your reference to Taiwan's listing on the Dutch government’s website. We do not rely on individual government sources for country names to avoid national biases; instead, we rely on the international ISO system for neutrality. As your letter indicates, it is appropriate and fitting that changes to the standards we use should be addressed by the bodies that create them.
The List of Country Codes and RIRs webpage is for informational purposes only and the use of the ISO system country names and codes in our databases should not be interpreted as our position on the international status of a country.
I hope this clarifies why we believe it is important that the RIPE NCC adheres to the ISO system. Please let me know if you would like any further clarifications.
Yours Sincerely,
Hans Petter Holen
Managing Director and CEO
RIPE NCC
1 Discuss ISO-3166 mark TAIWAN as a Provinces of China on the RIPE NCC website:
https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/cooperation-wg/2024-April/001763.html