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My general rule is to use the common English name of a place when speaking English, and to not agree to use a new name as long as there’s reason to dispute the neutrality of the name change. The first rule is about preventing confusion.
Not everyone is going to know what Bharat, Zhongguo or tlingan wo’ not everyone could identify those places. If I give the English names, then I’m communicating much better. Another benefit is that it avoids the fault of pretending at being sophisticated which a fair number of liberals especially love to do. It feels more knowledgeable to the speaker if they can say the name in a more native way, either by pronunciation or by using a native name. So saying México makes you sound more educated than the locals calling it Mexico. And it ends up, for me, coming off a bit snobbish like they’re to good to use normal standard names for things.
On the other hand, especially when it comes to politically charged territories, the names chosen and used can have pretty significant influence on the future direction of policy. Calling Taiwan by different names would have pretty serious implications in signaling your position on their status as an independent country. Taiwan, Formosa, Republic of China, and Chinese Taipei all refer to the same island, but if Joe Biden suddenly starts talking about Taiwan as The Republic of China, that’s pretty much saying that we recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. Likewise, if we suddenly start calling the island Chinese Taipei, we’re telling China we don’t recognize Taiwan as independent. It seems most reasonable to choose the most neutral term possible so that you don’t sneak in beliefs that you aren’t necessarily thinking about.
God forbid someone wants to look sophisticated. Next thing you know, they’ll be hanging around Internet forums, trying to explain how their outgroup is the real snobs.
I don’t care about just wanting to look sophisticated. But I think it’s a bit rich, especially when those same people haven’t ever learned anything about Bharat, for example, outside of what can be gleaned from travel videos, National Geographic, or the like.
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That’s exactly the problem- literati get the pronunciation wrong with native names very frequently. Kyiv is pronounced ‘Ki-eev’ not ‘keev’. Bharat is pronounced with a sound that doesn’t even exist in English. Etc, etc.
If you can’t pronounce it just use the English name.
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I do think the case of Taiwan is a pretty good example where using alternate terminology is just imprecise, and not more sophisticated.
Among the "main options" for positions to support:
The term "Taiwan" is probably the most neutral term, though it could indicate support for options 1, 2, 3, or 4? The term "Formosa" alone could indicate support for options 1, 2, or 4?? Saying "A/The (New) Republic of Formosa" is probably unambiguously supportive of option 4. The term "Republic of China" could indicate support for options 1 or 5? Lastly, "Chinese Taipei" could indicate support for options 1, 3, or 6?
If my intent is not to signal support for any specific opinion, I think Taiwan is the best name to use. And the problem with choosing to use things that imply too much is that they can be used to undercut other positions. If I could somehow enforce on everyone that they must call Taiwan “Republic of China” and especially if I could silence anyone who disagreed, it then becomes hard to make the case that we shouldn’t back Republic of China because you lack the ability to outright deny the independence claim. Ukraine, early on, used this to their advantage by insisting on the proper spelling (Kyiv over the Russian version of Kiev) using Ukraine over The Ukraine, insisting that the only correct way to refer to the war was the Russian invasion of Ukraine over other variants like Russia-Ukraine war. By doing this, it’s a lot harder to point out things that go against the narrative set out.
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