TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticized the government of Cameroon on Friday for disrespecting Taiwan’s sovereignty ahead of the World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference.

Taiwan will not attend this year’s conference in Yaounde because organizers insist on labeling the nationality of Taiwanese as “Taiwan, Province of China,” per a MOFA press release. This will be the first time Taiwan has been unable to attend the biannual event since 2001. 

The Taiwanese delegation was to be led by Minister without Portfolio Yang Chen-ni (楊珍妮), who completed pre-enrollment procedures. However, upon receiving travel authorization documents from Cameroon, the minister discovered the erroneous designation.

The foreign ministry notes the designation of “Taiwan, Province of China” is at odds with Taiwan's accepted status within the WTO organization. The ministry condemned Cameroon for its subservience to China and its efforts to denigrate Taiwan’s status as a sovereign nation.

Taiwan has lodged a protest with the WTO Secretariat. The ministry also calls on future host countries of the Ministerial Conference and other events to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again.