http://news.yahoo.com/s/sv/20051011/tc_siliconvalley/_www12873713_1 Defusing a dispute with technology powerhouse Taiwan, Google has changed its global map service to take the politics out of its geography. A previous version of Google Maps displayed the text ``Taiwan, Province of China'' next to a map of the island. But on Monday, a search returned only a map of the island, simply labeled ``Taiwan.'' Google spokeswoman Debbie Frost confirmed the shift, saying it reflected a broad change in what Google users see when any map is viewed. By dropping a direct reference to political control of Taiwan, Google has stepped back from one of Asia's trickiest political problems. Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, separated from China in 1949 after a long civil war. The island has since been self-governed, though it has never declared formal independence. China, however, regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has threatened to reclaim the island by military force if it officially declares independence. The two entities, while bound by a common culture, have developed very different economic and political systems, co-existing in an uneasy standoff across the narrow Taiwan Strait. Taiwan officials, including the island's vice president, protested Google's map label as dangerously incorrect and misleading. Some political activists on the island accused the search engine of trying to curry favor with Beijing. But company officials said the controversial label simply repeated information from outside data sources used to build its mapping service. The recent Google change is broader than just a fix on the Taiwan map. It's an overall update of the service's ``user interface,'' or what Web users see on-screen when they view any part of Google Maps, Frost said. The new version fills the screen with a map, eliminating the labeling text that had appeared on the left-hand side. That change removed the controversial label next to Taiwan's map. The old version ``was not often helpful for users, and took up a lot of the screen,'' said Frost. By simply labeling the island ``Taiwan,'' Google follows a convention many other geography services have adopted -- one that avoids the issue of political control. Local officials with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office could not be reached for comment late Monday. But a protest by Bay Area Taiwanese-Americans originally planned for today has shifted gears, organizers said. People may still gather outside Google's Mountain View offices, they said, but will be more likely to commend the company than denounce it. --

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