The new passport, right, makes Taiwan larger and Republic of China smaller than on the old passport, left
Taiwanese officials have announced changes to the passport design, making the word "Taiwan" larger and shrinking the words "Republic of China".
Authorities said the redesign was to stop confusion between its nationals and citizens of China.
The island is for all practical purposes an independent state but China sees it as a breakaway province.
A Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman said this would not change Taiwan being an "inalienable part of China".
Officials unveiled the new passports at a ceremony on Wednesday.
The English words Republic of China - Taiwan's official name - will be moved from the top of the cover to instead wrap around the national emblem in a smaller font, and the English word Taiwan will be larger and in bold.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic "our people have kept hoping that we can give more prominence to Taiwan's visibility, avoiding people mistakenly thinking they are from China", Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told reporters.
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