China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) on Monday unveiled a new Boeing 777 cargo jet that highlights Taiwan on its fuselage while minimizing the company’s logo.
The airline, in which the government holds nearly a 45 percent stake, was asked by lawmakers on the legislature’s Transportation Committee to assess the possibility of redesigning the exterior signage of its aircraft after it was erroneously identified as a Chinese carrier when delivering government donations of masks to Europe earlier this year.
A resolution passed by the committee in July said the airline should either remove or minimize “China” from the fuselage, and highlight “Taiwan” or images related to the nation.
Photo courtesy of CAL via CNA
The new jet has the word “Cargo” painted near the front, with a map of Taiwan proper placed in the letter C.
Meanwhile, the words “China Airlines” have been significantly reduced and moved to near the tail, while a plum blossom, the national flower, has been painted on the vertical stabilizer.
CAL chairman Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) said in a statement that the cargo jet, which arrived in Taiwan on Dec. 1, is one of six cargo aircraft that it ordered from Boeing Co that are scheduled to be delivered by 2023.
The plane has been certified as safe to operate and the aircraft would be dispatched to destinations in Asia and North America, he said.
Two more Boeing 777F cargo planes are scheduled to arrive before the end of next month, Hsieh added.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kuo-tsai (王國材), who serves as the chairman of the government-funded China Aviation Development Foundation, which owns a 34.45 percent stake in the airline, said that the legislature’s resolution did not involve changing the airline’s name, but the airline was asked to highlight Taiwan, as CAL owns the aviation rights to operate on existing flight routes.
“We understand that the public has greater expectations for the airline in terms of the steps it would take to change its name in the medium and long term,” Wang said.
The airline is planning to highlight Taiwan and images related to the nation more on its new passenger jets, Wang said.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that the new design aims to avoid confusion, as the airline has to protect its brand’s reputation.
“Regarding highlighting images of Taiwan, I think the airline would listen to responses from the public and gather opinions about the new design,” Lin said.
The new design has drawn a mixed response.
Nuclear energy advocate Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修) said that the design amounts to selling out Taiwan, as it looks as if a big “C” — or China — is swallowing up Taiwan.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that the design does not tell people that the airline is a Taiwanese carrier, because not many people are familiar with the map of Taiwan.
The aircraft still has the words “China Airlines” painted on it, while “Taiwan” is missing, Wang said.
The New Power Party said that the design was disappointing, as people are looking forward to one that clearly represents Taiwan.
“We urge the ministry and CAL to stop giving a perfunctory response to the Legislative Yuan’s resolution. They should take the public’s expectations seriously and present an exterior design that magnifies Taiwan and its images. We should not be afraid to tell the world we are from Taiwan, and such a design would be supported by all,” the party said.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so