Lawmakers yesterday held disparate opinions on whether or not the Web site of the Government Information Office (GIO) should adhere to the formal designation of Taiwan, the Republic of China (ROC).
But the director-general of the GIO Arthur Iap (葉國興) defended the current practice of inserting "ROC on Taiwan" on the front page of the GIO Web site, saying "ROC on Taiwan" was adopted long before the arrival of the DPP administration.
"As early as 1987, when the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (
"And perhaps I should consult with former GIO chief Shaw Yu-ming (邵玉銘), asking him why he followed Chiang's instructions," Iap said.
Shaw served as the KMT government spokesman from 1987 to 1991.
Iap made the remarks after being grilled by PFP legislator Sun Ta-chi (孫大千) for the lack of appearance of Taiwan's formal designation, the ROC, on the front page of the GIO's Web site.
Sun said he found it unacceptable that Taiwan's formal designation did not appear on the official Web site.
DPP legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (
She said that the GIO should alternate the use of Taiwan and ROC, and preferably adopt Taiwan first, while it reaches out to the international community.
"I hope that the GIO can use Taiwan, and then make proper use of ROC, especially when facing Taiwan's diplomatic allies," Hsiao said.
The GIO in January announced that it would ditch its decade-long emblem that features an image of China.
The new emblem features a bridge, symbolizing the GIO's role as a bridge between the government and the public, officials said.
The then GIO chief Su Tzen-ping (
The former GIO emblem, which had featured the ROC national flag and a map of China, was first used in 1988 under the instruction of former GIO chief Shaw.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
RSS