The Ministry of Transportation and Communications has shelved a long-term plan to change the name of China Airlines (CAL) due to the difficulties that the airline has encountered when dispatching cargo planes decorated with Taiwanese images, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) told a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday.
“In the short and medium term, we will ensure that the airline’s cargo planes have no trouble flying to other countries and that people will not mistake it for a Chinese airline,” Wang told lawmakers.
Although discussions about changing the name of the nation’s largest international carrier have been ongoing for more than a decade, it gathered steam again in 2020 when China Airlines delivered masks donated by Taiwan to countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo courtesy of China Airlines
Several European news media outlets published photographs of the China Airlines’ cargo flights, but incorrectly identified the donations as coming from China.
The committee that year passed a motion asking the ministry, which owns 31 percent of China Airlines shares, to showcase Taiwanese images on its aircraft’s fuselage.
In December 2020, the airline presented a new fuselage design for its Boeing 777 cargo jets. The word “Cargo” was painted near the front of the aircraft, with the letter “C” shaped around a map of Taiwan.
The words “China Airlines” were significantly reduced in size and moved near the tail of the plane, with a plum blossom, the national flower, painted on the vertical stabilizer.
However, it was discovered that the map of Taiwan has been removed from the letter “C” on a new Boeing 777 cargo jet that arrived at the end of last month.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told lawmakers in a plenary session last week that the cargo plane with the Taiwanese map fuselage design had been denied entry to airports in China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Ming-che (魯明哲) asked China Airlines president Kao Shing-hwang (高星潢) if the company still insists on meeting its long-term goal of changing its name given the problems that such a small change in the fuselage design has engendered.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said the government should consider using EVA Airways’ cargo jets to deliver materials donated to other countries, so people would not misidentify them as Chinese airplanes.
“Taiwan has donated aid to Ukrainian refugees in Europe, but people would never know the love and care of Taiwanese because they would think it was delivered by a Chinese airline,” Lin said, adding that China Airlines needs to address the issue to avoid confusion.
Kao told the committee that China Airlines, as a publicly traded firm, is obligated to protect its shareholders.
“The airline can only survive if its aircraft can fly to other countries. We will take all factors into consideration” when considering a new fuselage design, he said.
Changing the name of the airline is no small matter, as it involves applying for a new code with the International Civil Aviation Organization, Wang told reporters on the sidelines of the committee meeting.
Cargo jets featuring a map of Taiwan would be used to deliver goods to countries in North America, Wang said.
“Changing the name of China Airlines is a long-term goal. In the short term, we need to strike a balance between avoiding confusion and continuing flight services,” he said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS