“Taiwan” should be added to international driver’s licenses to emphasize that Taiwanese travelers are not Chinese, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday.
DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei that she received complaints from members of the public about the licenses.
Travelers were misidentified as citizens of China because the name Taiwan is not on the Ministry of Transportation and Communications-issued documents, Lin said.
Photo: CNA
“The country’s passport says Taiwan on its cover and there is no reason for the international driver’s license to be different,” she said.
The ministry issued 39,828 international driver’s licenses last year, down from 190,000 in 2018 and 180,000 in 2019, she said.
The ministry would not have so many administrative problems were it to make design changes to the licenses, she said, adding: “Correct identification of the nation’s travelers will help secure their proper treatment by authorities.”
DPP Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) said the French parliament and the G7 Council of Foreign Ministers separately voiced support for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations over the past two days.
The time is right to restart the movement to rectify the country’s name on international driver’s licenses, Chen said.
“We should make it easier for the international community to identify Taiwan and know that it is different from China,” she said.
DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said that global support for Taiwan is growing, as is the realization that Taiwan and China are different countries.
There is no obstacle in international law that prevents the ministry from putting Taiwan on driver’s licenses, which would avoid misunderstandings for Taiwanese in foreign countries, he said.
Department of Railways and Highways official Lee Chao-hsien (李昭賢) said that the ministry agrees with the proposal to change the licenses, but it must consult other government departments before taking any action.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS