Taiwan has protested against being listed as a province of China in the World Happiness Report of the United Nations.

The self-ruled island was ranked 24th out of 149 countries and regions in the report by the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Taiwan, which received 6,584 points, is the highest ranked territory in East Asia.

But since Taiwan is not a member state of the UN, the report added “Province of China” to its name.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, where the UN headquarters is situated, tweeted its acknowledgement of the high ranking, but added a hashtag “#TaiwanisTaiwan.”

“Listing Taiwan under China is false, unacceptable, and a blatant disregard of our country’s free and vibrant democracy,” it said.

The report used data from the Gallup World Poll over the past three years. It also made references to population age, social support, freedom to choose lifestyle, gross domestic product, corruption index and proximity to areas seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taiwan’s ranking increased one place compared to last year due to its successful campaign against the pandemic. The island’s success has been attributed to learning from the 2003 SARS pandemic and making quick responses such as limiting immigration and implementing quarantine.

The eight countries that topped the chart were all from Europe, with Finland leading it for the fourth year, followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Luxembourg.

In Asia, Taiwan only fell behind Bahrain at 22nd place. Mainland China rose 10 places to 84 when compared to last year, and Hong Kong fell one place to 77.

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