Foreign minister Tien Hung-mao subsequently explained that putting the word "Taiwan" on the passport meant adding the phrase "Issued in Taiwan" on the cover, and that this was by no means changing the name of the country. The main point was to make things more convenient for Taiwanese traveling abroad by avoiding a situation where they would be mistaken for passport holders from the PRC.
外交部長田弘茂隨後說明，護照加註台灣字樣是指在護照封面加上「ISSUED IN TAIWAN」，並不是改變國號，主要是為了讓國人在海外旅遊時方便，避免被誤解或混淆為中華人民共和國護照的持有人。