What to do when an otherwise valid post contains political statements?

Question

An answer to a recently edited question contains the following sentence (emphasis mine):

In China (Beijing, Shenzhen , Shanghai ) we seems never say: 构建. Seems 构建,软体 only spoken in Taiwan province.

Coming from someone who I believe to be a mainlander (let's assume this is true for the sake of the argument), this is probably a translation of 台湾省, as in this wikipedia article. That aside, the answer is perfectly valid, and even got upvoted. Now, I think everyone can agree that "Taiwan province" in this context is a very strong political statement, which can potentially spark debate, or simply put off Taiwanese answerers.

I think it's better to keep politics out of SE and go with a neutral wording. "Taiwan" alone might work.

However, it's been acutely noted that the very act of editing "Taiwan province" into "Taiwan" itself can be construed as a political statement!

A case can be made that such posts may simply not generate any debate, and even if they did, moderators would intervene as soon as the discussion takes the wrong turn. So in this case 无为¹ might be a valid strategy.

In general, is it okay to edit posts to remove political connotations? Does it do more harm than good? What does the community think about this?

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Disclaimer: the linked post is an example that prompted this meta question. I seek not just to discuss the specifics of "Taiwan province", but to derive generic editing recommendations that anyone can follow.

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^{[1] for 道德经 experts: I know what you're thinking, gimme some leeway :)}

Answer 1

For the general case... there are two distinct cases of posts containing politics.

1. Good: When the politics is related to the question, and helps us understand Chinese. In these cases, it should ideally be presented in a matter-of-fact, detached tone, and kept to the minimum necessary. We're not trying to win an argument, nor endorsing certain viewpoints; we're trying to understand the Chinese language.

2. Bad: When the politics is irrelevant to the question and the Chinese language. It says something political despite being unnecessary: deleting it would not change what we learn about the Chinese language. It's potentially harmful noise.

Is it okay to edit the post to remove the political connotation?

In the general case, if it's irrelevant to the question (and the Chinese language) then yes, it should be removed.

I feel most people are reasonable and will understand if we comment something like here we focus on the Chinese language; it's best to avoid political comments which might lead to issues down the line. However, some users might react strongly, so we're going to need to exercise some judgement, and avoid edit wars (i.e., just move on if the author reverts it [or flag, if relevant]).

The politics surrounding Taiwan in particular are not easily navigated; there is probably no correct decision. If we edit it, it looks like we're taking some political stance. If we refrain from editing it, it looks like we're taking some political stance. Sometimes we can't win.

For the given example, it looks like we are taking a "wait and see" approach for now. Also for now...

1. ... I'll simply ask the whole community: Please make an effort to avoid politically loaded language. To have a functional site for understanding Chinese, we need to work together despite possibly having contradictory political viewpoints.

   Personally, I'm not overly worried about an isolated blip: I'm worried about it escalating out of control (is it a once-off? will others retaliate?). Over at Islam.SE, we had major issues with sectarianism, to the point where the site was almost shut down because people used it as their personal soapbox; I don't want to see anything like that repeated here.

2. ... I'll highlight the Code of Conduct:

   When in doubt, don't use language that might offend or alienate.
   _{Code of Conduct}

   It's reasonable to claim this Taiwan-related terminology could alienate some users (otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion)---we don't want to alienate users. So if these things get edited, please don't get the wrong idea: it's about maintaining a functional site where we can all participate; it's not about taking a political stance, it's about creating an inclusive environment.

   A similar issue arose many years ago on meta.SE, where they opted for "Taiwan", so that's probably the optimally apolitical choice for the purposes of Stack Exchange.

Answer 2

If the user said 'Taiwan Province' he meant 'Taiwan Province'.

It is his personal view. There wouldn't be a problem until someone challenges this view for political reasons.

It does more harm to edit it than leave it as it is. Because by editing 'Taiwan Province' to 'Taiwan'. The editor is in effect, challenging this view. And for political reasons no less.

Answer 3

I believe defining the term first would be more helpful.

Taiwan Province is:

a nominal province of the Republic of China without administrative function

How big is Taiwan Province?

Taiwan Province covers approximately 69% of the actual-controlled territory of the Republic of China, with around 31% of the total population.

Also:

Between 1967 and 2014, six special municipalities (Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei and Taoyuan) were split off from the province, all in the most populous regions.

Of course, there are territorial disputes, but this doesn't change the above definition.

If a writer believes they know specifically about Taiwan province, only 31% of the total population of Taiwan, then they can feel free to write about it all they desire.

There's no point getting into semantics when the definitions are clear.