The Taiwan Post Co (台灣郵政) said yesterday it would soon change its name back to Chunghwa Post (中華郵政), a measure expected to cost NT$8 million (US$260,000).
The company changed its name from Chunghwa Post to Taiwan Post in February last year at a cost of around NT$12 million.
The move at the time upset the Chunghwa Postal Workers’ Union, which staged a protest outside the company’s headquarters.
The second name change was passed unanimously at a board meeting yesterday and won praise from the workers’ union.
Taiwan Post chairman Wu Min-yu (吳民佑) said 30 post offices countrywide would need to have signs replaced, which would be completed by Monday.
Wu said the name change was being carried out in response to a resolution passed by the legislature in April. The resolution said the company had not completed the required legal procedures to change its name to Taiwan Post and said it must change its name again within six months.
Wu said customers with Taiwan Post savings accounts would still be able to use account books with “Taiwan Post” printed on the cover. Postage stamps issued by the Taiwan Post will also still be valid.
“The interests of our customers remained unchanged,” he said.
Chunghwa Post vice president Su Tien-fu (蘇添富) said NT$8 million was only an estimate for the cost of the name change.
The bottom line may add up to less than that, Su said.
“When we took the Chunghwa Post signs and billboards down last year, we put them in our storage just in case we might need them again,” Su said. “And to save all the trouble, we simply put ‘Taiwan Post’ stickers on top of the name ‘Chunghwa Post’” on smaller signs such as at ATMs.
“Now, we only need to wash those billboards and tear off those stickers,” he said.
The meeting yesterday also confirmed the reappointment of former board member Liu Cheng-chi (劉政池).
Liu was removed from the board by Vice Minister of Transportation and Communications Ho Nuan-hsuen (何煖軒) for allegedly leaking information to the press. Ho later also filed slander charges against Liu, accusing him of seeking to damage the company’s reputation by divulging negative information.
Wu dismissed speculation that Liu had been reappointed because of pressure from Liu’s brother, Miaoli County Commissioner and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻). Liu Cheng-chi was appointed to the board to “help the company’s business,” Wu said.
But anonymous postal workers upset by the decision wrote in a letter distributed to reporters: “What makes Liu so special that he should be employed again and again by the board? ... There are about 5,000 people in this company who are experts in the postal business. Can they all be appointed too?”
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College