Taiwan Flag Emoji Disappears From iOS 13.1.2 Keyboard

Kris Cheng, reporting for the Hong Kong Free Press:

The Republic of China flag emoji has disappeared from Apple iPhone’s keyboard for Hong Kong and Macau users. The change happened for users who updated their phones to the latest operating system.

Updating iPhones to iOS 13.1.1 or above caused the flag emoji to disappear from the emoji keyboard. The flag, commonly used by users to denote Taiwan, can still be displayed by typing “Taiwan” in English, and choosing the flag in prediction candidates.

This is either a bug on Apple’s part, or kowtowing to China.

Update: Given that it’s the same in the first iOS 13.2 beta, it sure looks more like kowtowing than a bug.

★ Monday, 7 October 2019