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Feature: Debate over name change continues

Two women pass by a post office in Taipei on Thursday. Chunghwa Post's board yesterday approved the motion to change the postal service firm's name to Taiwan Post Co. Signs bearing the company's new name must be ready by tomorrow to comply with the order from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. PHOTO: CNA

To Lee Ying-fang (李穎芳), an engineer in a technology firm, the decision of Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) to change its name to Taiwan Post Co (台灣郵政) does not have any substantial meaning.

"All I know is that it [the name change] does not change what they are doing and what they are going to do," she said.

Lee talked about this matter with her colleagues at work on Friday, when rep-resentatives of the Chunghwa Post-al Workers Union were trying in vain to prevent the postal com-pany's board of directors from agreeing to the name change.

Although she confessed that she was not exactly sure why the union was against the proposal, she said she was aware the measure would cost the country "a lot of money."

"The common reaction was what for?" she said. "The money that will be expended in replacing names on billboards and delivery trucks could be saved for other purposes, such as helping senior citizens."

The same question was posed to Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) on Friday, who offered potentially the best justification for the name change.

"The time is ripe for the government to correct mistakes made in the past one step at a time," Lu said. "We've paid a huge price in sustaining diplomatic relations with other countries because of these mistakes. Compared to that, the money [to be expended on changing names] is nothing."

The name change is estimated to cost the nation's most profitable state-run corporation NT$67 million (US$2.1 million). Many, however, did not expect the change to happen overnight.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had just mentioned in his electronic newsletter on Thursday that the nation would "soon" see titles such as "Taiwan Post" or "Taiwan Stamps." And Chunghwa Post chairman Lai Chin-chyi (賴清祺) confirmed on the same day that "soon" means the next day. Lai also confirmed that a new signboard bearing the name "Taiwan Post" had already been made and would be unveiled tomorrow.

In that case, all the preparation works must have been completed before this week.

Tsai Liang-chuan (蔡兩全), the postal workers' union chairman, told the press on Thursday that Minister of Transportation and Communications Tsai Duei (蔡堆) had asked his help to ensure that the board meeting on Friday proceeded smoothly.

Tsai Liang-chuan later said in a TV talk show that the union was not against the name change as such. Rather, the company should have informed the public first why it was necessary to change its name and assured customers that their interests would be fully protected.

Union representatives were also furious when the three board directors representing the workers were barred from joining the meeting. They vowed to mobilize more than 5,000 employees to protest at the company's celebration of the name change tomorrow.

But what concerned government officials is the legality and validity of the resolution.

In a statement issued by Chung-hwa Post yesterday, the company defended its decision by saying that it had evaluated and planned the change since 2004.

"As a state-run corporation, the company is entitled to change its officially registered name upon approval by the board, and it only needs to apply for a change in title from the administrative authority in charge [the Ministry of Economic Affairs]," the statement read.

The statement also suggested that since Chunghwa Post's transformation from an administrative agency into a state-run firm, it was no longer regulated by the Postal Law (郵政法).

Teng Tien-lai (鄧添來), director of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, disagreed.

He said that the company would continue to be regulated by the Postal Law and other relevant regulations so long as the company provides postal services.

As the Postal Law and the Chunghwa Post Establishment Act (中華郵政股份有限公司設置條例) do not have a list of legal procedures that should be followed in case of an official title change, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications' legal committee would have to look into the issue as it might contradict the regulations in the Budget Act (預算法).

Teng stressed, however, that the name change would not have any effect on the postal delivery service.

He said that although Taiwan is not a member of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), it would not make the situation worse.

The UPU is an international agency coordinating postal policies among its member nations.

"Business attitude transcends that of a name change," he said. "Taiwan as well as other nations will mutually benefit from the smooth transportation of mails."

While the impact of the name change remains to be seen, stamp collectors could benefit from the move, observers said.

However, an owner of a stamp-trading firm surnamed Yang (楊) disagreed.

"I don't think their value will increase after this, given that a lot of these stamps were printed in large quantities," he said.
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