Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday threw his backing behind President Chen Shui-bian's (
"Correcting the names of embassies and state-run enterprises is necessary and urgent because it will help lessen confusion and avoid [Taiwan] shouldering unnecessary responsibilities for ill-reputed Chinese companies bearing similar names," he said. "It's a sound policy, similar to that of adding the word `Taiwan' on the cover of the [Republic of China] passport in Roman script."
Citing the state-run China Airlines as an example, Yu said that it is easy to confuse it with China's Air China.
The Singapore-based China Aviation Oil is similar to the state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp.
Anticipating opposition to name changes from some employees of state-run businesses, Yu argued that using "Taiwan" will help lessen confusion for those companies when they attend international conferences or conduct business trips abroad.
Although it may cost some money and take some time to have the names changed, Yu said that he estimated the expenses will not be too costly.
"I'm calling on the agencies concerned to handle the matter in accordance with the regulations and we'll also conduct an evaluation on the measure," he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will continue talks with countries that do not diplomatically recognize the Republic of China (ROC), to discuss its plan to change the name of Taiwan's representative offices, a senior official said yesterday.
Ministry spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) made the remarks after Chen said on Sunday that his administration will push for changes of the designation of ROC missions abroad and certain state-owned enterprises within two years. Including the word "Taiwan" would clearly distinguish them from those of the People's Republic of China (PRC), he said.
Lu said Chen's name-change proposal does not involve changes to the nation's status or title.
Therefore, he said, the designation of the embassies and consulates in countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei will not be subject to change.
As for missions in countries with no diplomatic ties, Lu said, the ministry has been working on name-change issues for the past few years. Now that Chen has given a timeframe for attaining the goal, he said, the ministry will continue negotiating the "name change" with the relevant countries.
Taipei forged diplomatic relations with the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in November last year. As the embassy is situated opposite a building that used to house the PRC embassy, the ROC embassy's name plaque already bears a word "Taiwan" to avoid confusion.
Asked whether the ROC embassies in other countries will follow this practice, Lu said this would require further study before a decision can be made.
In related news, Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) said yesterday the six government-funded Chinese schools in Southeast Asia will be designated as "overseas Taiwan schools" in line with government policy.
Asked about his views on Chen's pledge to change the names of overseas offices, Tu pointed out that as his ministry is a government organ, its job is to implement government policy.
"So if the proposed name change becomes policy, the ministry will implement it," he said.
The six overseas schools are in Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Jakarta and Surabaya.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
RSS