Man Booker about-face on nominee’s nationality

The Man Booker International Prize yesterday performed a U-turn on a controversial decision to change the nationality of a Taiwanese nominee to Chinese on its website.

The literary prize faced online outrage and complaints from Taiwan’s government last week, after it caved in to pressure from Beijing to change the nationality of Wu Ming-yi, 42, from “Taiwan” to “Taiwan, China.”

After days of protests, Man Booker finally said it had reversed the decision following guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.