Amid raucous protests by unions and opposition members, three state-run companies changed their names yesterday, dropping "China" references and including "Taiwan" in their official titles.
Government officials said the move was part of a bid to avoid confusion among members of the international community, which could mistake Taiwan for China.
Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC, 中國石油) and China Shipbuilding Corp (CSBC, 中國造船) approved their name changes in board meetings yesterday.
CPC has been renamed "CPC Corp, Taiwan" (
The board of Chunghwa Post Co (
"The chairman [of the meeting] ruled today that the number of board directors present has met the requirements of conference rules," Chunghwa Post Co chairman Lai Ching-chyi (賴清祺) said, after spending almost eight hours trying to hold the board meeting and switching venues four times. "The conference is, therefore, legal."
That the decision was made without three board members who represent the Chunghwa Post Workers Union infuriated some employees of one of the nation's oldest state-run companies.
Lai said that company had informed the union that the meeting would be held at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications' (MOTC) headquarters.
Board members were waiting for the union's representatives for at least 30 minutes before the meeting began, Lai added.
The union's board members arrived at the MOTC building yesterday afternoon intending to join the meeting, but they were blocked at the entrance by police.
"Congratulations," Chunghwa Post Workers Union chairman Tsai Liang-chuan (
Tsai added that the union would launch a protest next Monday. One of the union's board members told reporters that he had filed a lawsuit against Chunghwa Post at the Taipei District Court, but did not provide details.
The postal service board had been scheduled to hold a routine board meeting yesterday at 9am, but the members were unable to reach a decision in the morning, as workers broke into the meeting room and interrupted the proceedings. The meeting's chairman dismissed the board at 12:30pm.
Board directors representing the government left the headquarters and tried to locate different venues to meet.
Lai said yesterday after the meeting that the name change would facilitate delivery of mail in the future. Some mail is sent to China by mistake, he said, because mail personnel in other countries often confuse Taiwan with China.
He also said that replacing the names on the billboards as well as other items would cost the company only approximately NT$67 million (US$2.1 million).
Tsai said, however, that the expenses would be more than the sum Lai claimed, if changing the titles of personal account books and postal delivery trucks are taken into account.
Tsai added that Taiwan is not one of the members of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and had to be informed about information updates from the union through South Korea.
Given the pressure from China, Taiwanese stamps may not be recognized by other nations, which would result in a cross-strait postal delivery crisis, he said.
Meanwhile, adding the word "corporation" to the English titles of "CPC Corp, Taiwan" and "CSBC Corp, Taiwan" was not redundant, Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) said, as the acronyms have become recognized corporate logos.
The two state-run enterprises both held board meetings at 2pm yesterday to discuss the name change issues, and the new names were immediately endorsed by the ministry, which is in charge of the two firms.
"Since CPC and CSBC are state entities, the name change can help them avoid confusion outside Taiwan. We believe the new titles will boost their corporate image, competitiveness and market share," Steve Chen told a press conference.
As some employees oppose the name change campaign, Chen said he had talked to the leaders of the two firms' labor unions on Thursday and promised that their rights and interests would be protected, which he said helped the board meetings proceed smoothly yesterday.
CPC vice president Tsao Mihn (曹明) said the board of directors yesterday demanded that employees' benefits not be sacrificed and that corporate performances be reviewed every six months to determine whether the new title brought any negative impact on operations.
CPC's new name already took effect yesterday afternoon, as the firm is 100 percent owned by the government. The ministry said that new signs could be put up at gas stations, starting Monday at the earliest.
CSBC, meanwhile, will have to seek shareholder approval for a new name, as it is 2 percent controlled by private shareholders and 98 percent by the government.
The shareholder meeting is scheduled for March 1, CSBC president Fan Kuang-nan (
Fan said changing CSBC's name could cost around NT$20 million, as it only needs to send notices to holders of its 30,000 contracts, instead of changing its documents.
CSBC is not worried that buyers will be affected or China will interfere, as it is a "seller's market" in the shipbuilding industry, and the 54 ships currently under construction will still obtain a good price on the market, he added.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that the name change of the three state-owned companies would not cost much and would not jeopardize employees' legal rights.
The name changes will avoid potential confusion for foreigners and will make the firms more competitive, because it will become easier to identify them with Taiwan, Su said during a press conference.
EIGHT-YEAR WINDOW: Avril Haines said that Beijing is closely watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although Moscow’s actions have not sped up Beijing’s timeline The threat posed by China to Taiwan until 2030 is “critical,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Tuesday while testifying on worldwide threats at a hearing of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services. “I think it’s fair to say that it’s critical, or acute,” Haines said when asked by US Senator Josh Hawley if she viewed the threat facing Taiwan to be acute from now until 2030. “It’s our view that they [China] are working hard to effectively put themselves into a position in which their military is capable of taking Taiwan over our intervention,” she said, without
‘DAMOCLES SWORD’: An Italian missionary said the arrest of cardinal Zen is a blow for the church in Hong Kong, China and the world, signaling great danger ahead China yesterday defended the arrest of a 90-year-old Catholic cardinal under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, a move that triggered international outrage and deepened concerns over Beijing’s crackdown on freedoms in the territory. Retired cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia, was among a group of veteran democracy advocates arrested on Wednesday for “colluding with foreign forces.” Pop singer Denise Ho (何韻詩), veteran barrister Margaret Ng (吳靄儀) and cultural studies academic Hui Po-keung (許寶強) were also arrested, the latter as he attempted to fly to Europe to take up an academic post. Cyd Ho (何秀蘭), a democracy
NO CONSENSUS YET: Local governments and the CECC have agreed to change the ‘3+4’ self-isolation policy, but are still mulling what to replace it with The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and local governments have agreed to ease restrictions on close contacts of COVID-19 cases, although the details are still being discussed, the center said yesterday. The discussions follow Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Saturday approving a proposal to shorten the “3+4” policy — three days of home isolation followed by four days of self-disease prevention — for close contacts who have received booster doses. “We did not reach a consensus on how to revise the current restrictions, but we all agreed that the administrative burden must be reduced and the intensity of restrictions must be eased,
OPPOSING CHINESE ‘HOSTILITY’: The bill orders the state secretary to create a plan to regain observer status for Taiwan, saying Taipei is a model contributor to world health US President Joe Biden on Friday signed a bill into law to help Taiwan regain observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA), demonstrating Washington’s support for Taiwan’s international participation. Friday was the deadline for Biden to sign the bill (S.812), which directs “the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization (WHO), and for other purposes.” The 75th WHA, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, is scheduled to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday next week to May 28. The bill, introduced by US Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate