⁍ Britain’s charity regulator said on Tuesday it was investigating a British bird conservation group.

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⁍ BirdLife International cut ties with a Taiwanese counterpart because it refused to promise not to use terms that represent the island as independent of China.

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⁍ China has increased pressure on international groups and companies to refer to democratically ruled Taiwan as part of China.

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– A British bird conservation group has cut ties with its Taiwanese counterpart over the latter’s attempts to use the term “Taiwan” to refer to the island that China still claims as part of its territory. Britain’s charity regulator says it has opened a compliance case against the Taiwan Wild Bird Federation because BirdLife International refused to promise not to use the terms “Taiwan” and “China” when dealing with the group, Reuters reports. The TWBF, which changed its name from the Chinese Wild Bird Federation last month, says it can’t sign any documents about Taiwan’s political status. “We have opened a compliance case to assess all information provided, in order to determine our next steps,” Britain’s Charity Commission said in a statement. Several other bird groups have said they will keep working with the TWBF, including a major partner of BirdLife, Britain’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The flap has come at a time of mounting tension between Taiwan and China, whose air force has repeatedly buzzed the island, including again on Tuesday, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.