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.
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