Former Directorate General of Posts director Hsu Chieh-kuei (許介圭) criticized former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration yesterday for its name-change policy, calling it nothing more than political maneuvering.
“To a lot of postal workers, it [changing the name from Chunghwa Post to Taiwan Post] is a history that is too painful to recall,” he said.
Hsu made the comments during a ceremony held yesterday to mark the change of the postal company’s name back to Chunghwa Post.
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
Unlike last year, when the company hosted an hour-long inauguration ceremony attended by Chen and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to mark the change to Taiwan Post, yesterday’s ceremony lasted only 15 minutes and was attended only by company employees and retirees.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) and other high-ranking ministry officials were not invited.
The ceremony ended with representatives of the Chunghwa Post Workers’ Union hailing a victory.
Tsai Liang-chuan (蔡兩全), the workers’ union chairman, said after the ceremony that the Control Yuan had launched an investigation into the name change.
“All those who were involved in making the decision and executing the policy — including Chen Shui-bian, former minister of communications and transportation Tsai Duei [蔡堆], former Chunghwa Post chairman Lai Chin-chyi (賴清祺) and current chairman Wu Min-yu (吳民佑) — must be held accountable for this wrong policy,” Tsai Liang-chuan said.
Wu said the two name changes have cost the company about NT$20 million (US$666,000).
In a statement on Friday, the company said customers could continue using savings account booklets with Taiwan Post appearing on the cover.
All transactions under the name Taiwan Post are still considered valid by the company.
Meanwhile, the company would continue using deposit receipts and other stationery bearing the name Taiwan Post, but would stamp them with the official Chunghwa Post seal.
Asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) said it was “reasonable” for the company to change its name back now that the KMT was in power.
She said the legislature never approved the postal service’s proposal to change its name to Taiwan Post, adding that as a result “Taiwan Post never existed.”
She said Chen should be held accountable for the money the company has had to spend to change back its name because he ordered the move for political gains.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) told a press conference that “few people outside Taiwan know where letters with the Chunghwa Post postmark are from.”
She said the company should at least keep “Taiwan” on the postmark, as it would allow more people abroad to know that Taiwan is a sovereign state.
DPP caucus whip Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) said it was ridiculous for “the post company to spend NT$20 million to diminish ‘Taiwan’ and reinstate ‘Chunghwa.’”
Additional reporting by Flora Wang and Rich Chang
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their