Los Angeles, Dec. 17 (CNA) The Professional American Football League’s National Football League (NFL) has called Taiwan a part of China in its latest global marketing plan, sparking protests from a Taiwanese civilian group in the United States. United Friday.

Controversy erupted after the NFL said in a statement on Wednesday that 18 teams had gained access to 26 International Home Marketing Zones (IHMA) in eight different countries.

The statement showed a color-coded world map that identified Taiwan as the same country as China, with both colored red under the Los Angeles Rams Market.

“This revolutionary new initiative enables clubs to access international territories for marketing, fan engagement and marketing as part of an important long-term strategic effort to enable clubs to grow their global brands while driving the growth of NFL fans internationally, “the statement said. noted.

Ken Wu (吳兆峯), deputy chief of the Los Angeles chapter of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, protested the NFL’s statement on Friday.

“The existence of Taiwan’s 23 million people cannot be ignored in this way. We ask the NFL to make corrections and apologize,” Wu told CNA. “The NFL should toughen up and not bow down to China.”

American football is one of the most complex sports in the world, and it is also a representative sport that Americans are most proud of, Wu said.

Many Taiwanese immigrants and international students living in the United States also enjoy watching American football, Wu said, urging the NFL not to disappoint hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese fans.

Wu, a 25-year Seattle Seahawks fan, said he was happy to see American football spread abroad and welcomed the NFL to the Taiwan market so more Taiwanese would watch the annual Championship game. Super Bowl, but he hopes to let league officials know that “Taiwan is not part of China.”

According to the US news site The National Desk, the incident is a similar controversy to that of the US White House cutting the video stream of Taiwan’s digital minister Audrey Tang (唐鳳) during the US Democracy Summit. last week, when she displayed a map that differentiates her country from China.

The White House made no formal comment, but the State Department said the “confusion” over screen sharing resulted in Tang’s video stream being deleted, and called it “an honest mistake. “.

US media organization Fox News also reported on the NFL incident.

“The National Football League (NFL) raised eyebrows on Wednesday labeling Taiwan as part of mainland China,” Fox News said.