As if people in Taiwan didn't have enough to worry about, what with daily doses of bitter political intrigue and a hostile authoritarian power on their doorstep, a new problem was exposed yesterday: their license plates have turned against them.
Although many motorists in Taiwan go to great lengths to personalize their license plates by choosing lucky numbers, if they are not familiar with English, they can't avoid the bad luck of having inauspicious alphabetic combinations, such as "ASS," "DIE" or "DOA."
License plates in Taiwan are made up of two alphabetic letters and four digits for cars, while license plates on scooters have three letters and three digits.
PHOTO: CNA
Drivers and motorists tend to avoid combinations ending in the unlucky number four (si, 四), which sounds similar to "death" (si, 死) in Mandarin, and prefer lucky number combinations using eight (ba, 八), which rhymes with wealth (fa, 發).
However, an independent Taipei City councilor yesterday took the city's Department of Transportation to task for failing to address an equally weighty issue: unseemly combinations of alphabetic characters on many license plates.
"The meanings of some English letters on these license plates are insulting, ill-omened or funny. Drivers are making an ass of themselves by driving cars with such license plates," independent Taipei City Councilor Tim Chang (
During his speech, Chang asked officials from the department to hold mock license plates he had prepared. Officials stood in front of the news cameras holding license plates reading "ASS," "BS," "BUM," "BRA" and "PIG."
"Do you know what `BS' means in English?" Chang asked department Deputy Commissioner Lin Li-yu (林麗玉), who had chosen to hold one of the cards.
"It's an abbreviation for `bullshit,'" Chang told her.
According to Chang, there are more than 500 Taipei motorists who have the inauspicious alphabetic letters "DOA" (dead on arrival) on their license plates, while at least 50 motorists are riding around with license plates inscribed with "DIE."
He urged the department to either allow motorists to change their license plates, or to sift out combinations that would have unpleasant or strange meanings in advance.
Department Commissioner Jason Lin (林志盈) said drivers or motorists could change their license plates, which cost NT$1,250 for a random selection of another set of alphabetic letters and digits. Personalizing license plates would cost at least NT$3,000.
"We suggest that the central government screen the alphabetic letters in advance. But it's up to the government to decide, since it is responsible for manufacturing and distributing the plates," he said.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active