The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has asked the armed services to stop using "China" or "Chinese" as part of the titles for periodicals they publish for internal circulation.
Starting from last month, The Chinese Air Force and The Chinese Navy, the most representative of these publications, have been changed to ROC Air Force and ROC Navy.
At a regular press conference yesterday, the MND said the change was made following requests from lawmakers.
"The name change is aimed at distinguishing us from People's Republic of China (PRC). It does not have any political implications," MND spokesman Major General Huang Suei-sheng (
"For people of my age, the `China' or `Chinese' we used to use as referring to any branch of the military is none other than the ROC. It is very clear and obvious," Huang said.
Huang made the remarks as part of his response to inquiries from the press over the name change for military periodicals, starting from December.
In December, The Chinese Navy quarterly was the first to change its name. The Chinese Air Force monthly followed suit this month.
The Chinese Army changed its name four years ago for different reasons.
The Chinese Combined Services Force of the combined logistics command also changed its name four years ago but is now defunct.
While these two periodicals underwent a name change without getting much notice, the name change this time has received a lot of publicity.
During the last session of the legislature, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers urged the military to stop using "China" or "Chinese" for the titles of its magazines so as not to create any misunderstanding in the international community.
The military accepted the suggestion, though not quite willingly. It would rather keep the old names but fears that the TSU lawmakers could cut the defense budget.
Most of the military periodicals using "Chinese" in their titles date from 1930s and 1940s. They were in print before the Chinese Nationalist Government (KMT) government fled to Taiwan in 1949.
The Chinese Air Force, for instance, started in 1938.
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