[WikiEN-l] [[Ireland]] and [[China]]

[Poor, Edmund W]

Larry,

I agree with you 100% on the naming issue for the [[Ireland]] and
[[China]] articles. I'd like to provide two more examples for additional
perspective.

Korea is, and Germany was, a divided country. In common speech, that is,
when English-speaking people who are NOT writing encyclopedia articles
are just talking about life among themselves, the following is how I've
heard them use the words 'Korea' and 'Germany'. (Note that the same goes
for writing.)

"Where are you from?" "Korea." (this means 'South Korea', because as
everyone knows, North Korea's travel restrictions are so severe that it
is exceedingly rare for a North Korean to travel to the West or even
communicate with a Westerner.)

"Hey, Joe, where were you stationed in the army?" "Germany." (until
1990, this meant 'West Germany', of course).

"Where would you like to travel, Mr. Tourist?" "I was thinking of
visiting Korea." "Oh, fine, we have excursions to Seoul and Pusan." (The
travel agent doesn't have to mention that there are no flights to
Pyongyang.)

"Korea was a staunch ally of the US during the Vietnam war." (This means
'South Korea', because it's fairly well known that North Korea stayed
out of that war.)

Now we have four cases of divided lands. When speaking of the political
units, we will have to mention the status quo -- regardless of how we
individual writers FEEL ABOUT such divisions. 

Ireland has a southern, independent republic; and a northern part linked
to (or dominated by) the British and thus formally part of the "United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island". But the island of Ireland
is filled with Irish people, and it has two distinct political
divisions, like it or not.

China is divided into two political units: PRC (the mainland) and ROC
(Taiwan, the "Republic of China"). Regardless of diplomatic niceties
about the so-called one-China party, there are *de facto* two distinct
political units. 

Germany used to be divided into West Germany and East Germany, and so
was Berlin. There's not much controversy here.

Korea is still divided into North Korea (DPRK) and South Korea (ROK).

Please allow me to suggest one editorial policy that fits all four
cases. 
* [[China]] => all of China, with links to [[PRC]] and [[ROC]]
governments
* [[Ireland]] => the entire emerald isle, with links to [[Republic of
Ireland]] and [[Northern Ireland]] governments
* [[Germany]] => the country, with links to (1) West Germany (defunct),
(2) East Germany (defunct) and (3) whatever the heck the current
government is calling itself.
* [[Korea]] => the entire peninsula, with links to [[North Korea]] and
[[South Korea]].

Most countries are not divided, so the main referent of [[this country]]
needn't be strictly distinguished from the current government. For
divided lands, however, the existence of divisions MUST NOT be hidden.
Regardless of Wikipedians' opinions or wishes for the resolution of the
various political conflicts, our job is describe what is there.

Ed Poor