Taiwan Post Co will issue the first set of stamps marked "Taiwan" on Feb. 28, featuring the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum as the theme, officials said yesterday, but the move may be short-lived, as the opposition has pledged to reverse the policy.
The stamps will be the first to carry the Chinese characters for "Taiwan stamp" after the company formally changed its name from "Chunghwa Post Co" (
However, other stamps already prepared with the words "Republic of China" will continue to be printed in the first quarter of this year, the officials said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications ordered Taiwan Post to prepare the set of Taiwan stamps last year in time for a Feb. 28 release, they said, adding that "Republic of China" stamps would stop being issued in April at the earliest.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday warned that his party would act to restore the words "Republic of China" to stamps if the party wins next year's presidential election.
"Stamps represent the nation. You can't change the name on a stamp unless the nation's name -- as stipulated in the Constitution -- is changed," Ma said at a press conference.
"It's not because we feel repulsion at the name `Taiwan,' but because `Taiwan' can't be used to replace `Republic of China,'" he said.
Ma labeled the government's move to drop "Republic of China" from stamps as a "subject for amusement" among the international community.
Ma said that the KMT did not oppose the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government when it added the word "Taiwan" to passports and to agreements it has signed with its allies.
He said that the inclusion of "Taiwan" in the two sets of circumstances was acceptable because they were done for the purpose of eliminating confusion.
However, he said, the change on stamps "would only cause more confusion" over the nation's name.
"American stamps bear the name of the United States, and British stamps bear the name of the United Kingdom, Ma said at the press conferenc.
Our stamps should bear the name `Republic of China,'" he said.
Earlier yesterday, Ma also said there was no need for the nation to change its name.
"It's now the 96th year of the Republic. Of course there's no need to change the name of `Republic of China' nor the name of Chunghwa Post Co," he said.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS