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GIO ditches its old emblem to remove reference to China

The Government Information Office (GIO) will abandon its decade-old emblem which features an image of China, sources said yesterday.

The GIO emblem, a Republic of China national flag and a map of China, was created under the instruction of former GIO director-general Shaw Yu-ming (邵玉銘), who was the KMT government spokesman from 1987 to 1991.

GIO officials said the move to abolish the emblem stemmed from pragmatic rather than political considerations.

"It's not necessary to have any overly politicized association with this change of emblem," said a GIO official, who declined to be named, when asked if the change was triggered by the DPP-led government's pro-independence stance.

The official said the existing emblem had triggered what he termed "disturbances," with many overseas visitors to the GIO offices expressing confusion over the emblem.

"It's often the case that foreign guests visiting the GIO headquarters would ask us what that emblem meant, and it's fairly likely that any further explanation could make the whole thing become even more blurred," the official said.

Director-General of the GIO Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平) will hold a press conference tomorrow formally introducing a new emblem, which will feature a bridge, symbolizing the GIO's role as a bridge between the government and the public, sources said.

The choice of new emblem was made by GIO employees, who were asked to vote for one of two designs, the official said.

Some critics, however, said the change of the GIO emblem was indicative of the growing alienation of China as a result of attempts by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), and continued by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), to reduce the influence China has on Taiwan.
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