Wednesday 22 July 2020

Taiwan's Legislative passed the cases of China Airlines name and passport rectification resolutions

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                  / KUCINTA SETIA



The Taiwan Legislative dealt with the proposal raised by the Green Camp on 22 July 2020, suggesting that Taiwan's "Ministry of Transportation" should develop a "China Airlines" name rectification plan. The Legislative voted according to the resolution proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party Caucus, which was passed with 64 affirmative votes. All members of the KMT did not attend the vote.

According to the DPP, the proposal originated from Taiwan’s donation of masks to Europe and the United States in April this year. The words "China Airlines" on the airframe of China Airlines made some foreign media reports that the aircraft belonged to the mainland. In order to strengthen Taiwan’s international recognition, it is recommended that the "Ministry of Transportation" actively study and propose policies related to China Airlines’ international recognition to avoid confusion between China Airlines and mainland airlines. They proposed to add "TAIWAN" or a design with the image of Taiwan to the fuselage in the early stage, and discuss with various units the possibility of changing the English translation or directly changing the name. 

On 22 July, the "Passport rectification resolution" proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party was also passed, suggesting that Taiwan’s administrative departments "propose specific measures on how to further improve the recognition of passports of Taiwan and TAIWAN" to ensure the convenience and convenience of Taiwanese international travel. Security. However, according to the law, the resolution passed by the Taiwan's Legislative has no legal force and can only make supervision and recommendations to the administrative department.

Regarding the above-mentioned resolution passed by Taiwan's Legislative, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presidential Office both expressed respect on 22 July. The Kuomintang "Legislative " party group issued a statement on the evening of the 22nd stating that the name change is within the scope of administrative power, and the administrative department can handle the related renaming operations according to its powers, and does not need to be passed by the "Legislative Yuan" resolution. "It is obvious that the DPP is just a show of political interests. , The Kuomintang group refused to enter the venue to endorse and did not participate in the voting." 

The Kuomintang also stated that China Airlines had been repeatedly renamed due to political factors. During Chen Shuibian’s administration in 2007, he had promoted it and stopped because of doubts from outsiders. Moreover, China Airlines’ renaming involved the company’s trademark, navigation rights negotiations, air charter amendments, time zone redistribution, and international changes. Air Transport Association (IATA) codes and fuselage painting, etc. not only require huge costs, but may also affect air rights.

The China Times Electronic News reported that before Chen Shuibian was in power, many enterprises on the island changed their names. For example, "Zhongzheng International Airport" was changed to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in October 2006, and "China Shipbuilding Corporation" was renamed "Taiwan International Shipbuilding Corporation" in 2007. ", and was unveiled by Su Zhenchang, the then President of Taiwan." In 2007, "PetroChina" changed the company's name to "Taiwan Petroleum Co., Ltd." because there was a private oil agent on the island called "Taiwan Petroleum Co., Ltd." and "CNPC" could not be changed to "Taiwan Petroleum".

China Airlines said on 22 July that it "does not comment" on the name change. Liu Huizong, chairman of the China Airlines Enterprise Labor Union, said bluntly before that "the issue of name change is an eternal pain in the hearts of China Airlines employees." "Economic Daily" stated that the epidemic continues to have a fever around the world, and the aviation industry is about to cut off cash flow. "But the risk of name change is an unnecessary crisis. All China Airlines people are unwilling to bear such operational risks." Nearly 20,000 employees are worried that if the rectification of the name makes the operation of China Airlines difficult, the inner panic is beyond the understanding of outsiders. 

If China Airlines decided to proceed with a name change, the name change of China Airlines is not a one-sided decision by Taiwan. It must be approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Once Taiwan applies for the name change, all contracts between China Airlines and other regions and airlines in the world must be renegotiated. Can the air traffic rights and airspace rights be extended? International loan swaps also need to be negotiated again, and Taiwan’s rights and interests will inevitably be damaged.

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