Mapping Taiwan from an alternative angle

Abstract

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The leitmotif of creating “Taiwan's East Asian Neighbors” lies in providing alternative perspectives of observing Taiwan that are absent in traditional maps. Instead of using a conventional Mercator projection, leading to serious distortions of territories at the mid and high latitudes, this map uses an oblique Mercator projection and tactful selection of standard lines to present a precise image of Taiwan and its surrounding countries of the East Asian island arcs. The novelty of this cartographic product has stirred debates from various corners of Taiwan society. These debates reflect the success of this map because it has achieved the aim of stimulating plural perspectives of observing and understanding Taiwan. “Taiwan's East Asian Neighbors” manifests well the potential geopolitical impacts of cartography on a society.