CAL denies report Beijing blocked planned ceremony

China Airlines (CAL) denied yesterday that the cancellation of an unveiling ceremony for a plane painted with "Taiwan" in Roman script on its body was a result of pressure from China.

A Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that Hong Kong would not allow the plane to land in its territory because of the word "Taiwan" on its body.

The report said the formerly state-run airline began painting the Boeing 747 on Aug. 23.

The airline recruited 40 workers to paint the airplane with 11 colors. The pigments used weighed 260kg. The project cost nearly NT$15 million, the report said.

The word "Taiwan," the geographic outline of the island and two rainbows are visible on one side of the airplane, while the other side of the aircraft was painted with the words "Touch Your Heart."

The report claimed the airline, which originally planned to unveil the aircraft yesterday, suddenly canceled the ceremony because the word on the aircraft annoyed China.

China to block the airline's NT$1.5 billion investment in a Chinese cargo airline if the Taiwanese carrier insisted on unveiling the plane, the newspaper report quoted an unnamed airline insider as saying.

CAL Roger Han (韓粱中) dismissed the alleged link between the airline's investment and its cancellation of the release of the painted aircraft.

"There is no such matter. The two events are not related," Han said.

According to the report, the airline is preparing to erase all painting on the aircraft.

Han he could not comment on the aircraft's artwork.

He noted the cancellation of the unveiling ceremony resulted from technical problems but did not give further details.

"I am not very clear about the technical problems," he said.

Han that he was not sure exactly when the new aircraft would be introduced.

"We are still negotiating with the Tourism Bureau about the date. But I can't answer when the date will probably be set," he said.

The airline proposed painting the bureau's campaign slogan "Taiwan Touch Your Heart" on its aircraft in July in an effort to help rejuvenate the nation's tourism, which was severely damaged during the SARS epidemic.

Han China did not influence CAL's plan to introduce the aircraft.

"The purpose of painting the aircraft is to boost Taiwan's tourism industry. Please don't concoct any political factors about the event," Han added.

Alexander Huang (黃介正), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said the council needed to investigate further to verify the nature of the aircraft row.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Constitutional Affairs Bureau did not comment on the aircraft problem, but its spokesman said the Hong Kong Special Administration Region "does not recognize `passports' issued by Taiwan authorities."

The spokesman made the remarks in response to Taiwan's new passports, which contain the word "Taiwan" on the cover.

"The [Hong Kong] Government has consistently upheld the `one China' principle in handling Taiwan-related issues," the spokesman said.

The spokesman said Taiwan residents can continue to come to Hong Kong on the strength of entry permits issued by the Immigration Department of the Hong Kong government.

"There is no question of Taiwan residents entering Hong Kong with a `passport,'" the spokesman said.

Huang, however, said people with the new passports will not have problems entering Hong Kong.