ya no la hay

In the consulate of Ecuador renewing my long expired passport. They called on me after all the documents were reviewed.

Funcionario: Tenemos una pequeña observación Sra. Yu, a su lugar de nacimiento le pondremos “China” porque solo hay la opción de “China”, ya no hay la opción de “Republica de China Taiwán.”

Me: Qué? Seguro? Pero mi cédula pone “Taiwan”, sí debería de haber esta opción.

Funcionario: Ya no la hay, con esta nueva administración (Lasso), el Ecuador solo reconoce a China. Ahora solo hay la opción de “China”.

Me: (I turned to Fer, in shock) did you hear that?

Speechless. It hit me - my birth country is no longer an option to be selected as birth place because the Ecuadorian government succumbed to the pressure of the authoritarian state for economic reasons.

But who is it to blame? Considering all the future petroleum of Ecuador was sold to China years ago.

Sigh.