TAIPEI (REUTERS) - A top United States university, Johns Hopkins, has backed down on how it refers to Taiwan on a map detailing the spread of the new coronavirus after the island's government protested at the institution's inclusion of the island as part of China.

Beijing has been exerting pressure on foreign companies and organisations to identify Chinese-claimed Taiwan as part of China, and often to name it as a Chinese province.

Taiwan has strongly objected to this, saying it is an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name, that it has never been part of the People's Republic of China and that Beijing has no authority over the island.

The issue has come to a head again during the virus outbreak, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) listing Taiwan's case numbers under China's, referring to the island as "Taipei and environs".

The designation "Taipei and environs, China" was initially being used by Johns Hopkins on an interactive map it publishes tracking the virus outbreak around the world.

But the university has now changed that, and again calls the island simply "Taiwan".

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it had asked its representative office in the US to lodge a protest with Johns Hopkins.

"During a comprehensive review of the dashboard this week, Professor Lauren Gardner and her team decided to align the names of nations with the World Health Organisation's naming conventions to achieve consistency in reporting," the university said in an e-mailed statement, referring to the professor who oversees the mapping project.

"Upon further consideration, the team now uses US State Department naming conventions, including the use of Taiwan."

Taiwan has reported 48 virus cases, compared with more than 80,000 in China, and has won plaudits from experts for effective controls at keeping its tally so low, especially considering it is next to China and how many Taiwan people work and live in China.

Taiwan says its inclusion by the WHO as part of China's "virus area" has misled countries into believing its situation was as serious as China's, and to take measures to restrict or ban visits by Taiwanese residents.