Originally Posted by
Andy Big Bear
It's just like the conflicts you can easily fall into if you aren't careful around Chinese to not distinguish Taiwan as separate country, and around Taiwanese to make sure you distinguish them as being separate from China.
This is true in many situations if you assume someone's country from their accent (quickly comes to mind ... Scot/Brit/Irish/Welsh, Australian/New Zealander, Canadian/American). It is safer to ask "where are you from?" rather than making the statement "Oh, you're Australian" .