Taiwan Post Co (
Calling the measure a campaign ploy for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (
At a press conference, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (
"The postal service does not have the right to stamp a highly political logo on people's letters," Wu said. "This may cause trouble for others [senders and receivers] because the company is forcing them into adopting [the government's] political ideal."
Wu said the measure also contradicts the Postal Law (
The caucus' criticism came after local news station TVBS and the Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday the protest of an American teacher based in Taiwan.
The teacher, apparently surnamed Talovich, told reporters that the envelope of a letter he sent to his fiancee in the US was stamped with two logos by the postal service without asking for his permission.
"My fiancee considered this ridiculous and wondered why such things would happen ... I also felt very shameful," Talovich was quoted as saying in Mandarin.
"This is a private letter, not a government one. What the postal service did was like putting words in my mouth. I think this is intolerable," said Talovich, who has lived in Taiwan for more than three decades.
Talovich also posted a picture of the envelope on his Weblog, where he wrote in Mandarin: "Everyone enjoys freedom of speech. The more opinions people have, the better. A democracy cannot force its people to say something he doesn't want to say. No matter whether one supports or opposes a referendum [on seeking UN membership], a democracy cannot use our personal mail as propaganda flyers. This is an authoritarian measure," he wrote.
In the company's defense, president of the postal service Wu Min-yu (吳民佑) said the stamp represents government policy on gaining UN entry, adding that the company was not trying to influence public opinion through the measure.
Wu said the company randomly stamps the logo on roughly 35,000 domestic and 1,500 international letters every day.
"There was no violation of freedom of speech. The logo stamped on the envelope does not reflect the opinions of the sender," Wu said.
Wu did not say whether the measure was the Cabinet's idea.
Approached by reporters for comment, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
It's government policy to push for entry into the UN using the name "Taiwan" and that is also the public's expectation. Therefore putting the slogan on mail is a normal thing, Chang said.
"It's a serious thing that we can't join international organizations. We are limited in [containing] infectious diseases and having outward communications. We must let the world know that it's unfair to prohibit Taiwan from joining," Chang said.
Taiwan Post Co officials announced late yesterday that those who do not wish their mail to be stamped with the slogan can mark their envelopes as such and that their wishes will be respected.
The officials said after a meeting that it will urgently request the Cabinet to offer instructions as to whether to stop stamping the words "UN for Taiwan" on mail.
Meanwhile, Government Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) yesterday told the press that putting the stamp on mail "was not an issue."
"The stamp was designed for Taiwan, and its purpose is no different from an `anti-drug' or `anti-smoking' stamp," Shieh said, while making his office number public ((02)3356-7700) and saying the teacher was welcome to give him a call to discuss the matter.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and CNA
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS