While government officials and ruling party leaders cheered in chorus about President Chen Shui-bian’s instruction to replace the words “China” and “Taipei” in the names of state firms and overseas missions with “Taiwan,” some fortunetellers started predicting the name change will augur rosy prospects or bad luck for certain companies.
Based on the combined number of strokes of the Chinese characters in the new “Taiwan” names as planned, some giant companies could face business difficulties in the future while some others will bear limited impact, they claimed.[/quote]
I feel sorry for DPP supporters with the Chinese characters 中 in their names. They are really going to need the services of these fortune tellers.
While government officials and ruling party leaders cheered in chorus about President Chen Shui-bian’s instruction to replace the words “China” and “Taipei” in the names of state firms and overseas missions with “Taiwan,” some fortunetellers started predicting the name change will augur rosy prospects or bad luck for certain companies.
Based on the combined number of strokes of the Chinese characters in the new “Taiwan” names as planned, some giant companies could face business difficulties in the future while some others will bear limited impact, they claimed.[/quote]
I feel sorry for DPP supporters with the Chinese characters 中 in their names. They are really going to need the services of these fortune tellers.[/quote]
It’s a good start. The sooner Taiwan figures out its identity, the sooner the rest of the world can acknowledge it.
Start with the flag, the names, then they’re going to redo the CKS memorial… Would they also rename the language too? Taiwanese! No it’s not from China. That’s a different language :s
Well, they decided to name the newish highway no.3 (called Er Gao二高 for some unknown reason) as ‘Formosa Highway’, which is i guess a step in that direction. Unfortunately, as with most English words, it’s a bit painful hearing ‘Formosa’ spoken in Chinese, so that idea is likely to sink without a trace …
Incidentally, I’ve got an idea about all the roads named Zhong Shan or Zhong Zheng. As these are just the names that SYS & CKS decided to give themselves after they became famous, why don’t LTH & CSB do the same? Lee can rename himself Lee Zhong Shan and Chen can rename himself Chen Zhong Zheng. That way, whatever your political views, half the roads in Taiwan will be named after the founders of this great country (ROC or Taiwan) - it even means they don’t have to change the names of SYS/CKS memorial hall/CKS airport.
[quote=“david”]
Incidentally, I’ve got an idea about all the roads named Zhongshan or Zhong Zheng. As these are just the names that SYS & CKS decided to give themselves after they became famous, why don’t LTH & CSB do the same?[/quote]Perhaps because neither of them are power crazed megalomaniacs? CSB already had the chance to put his face on the new banknotes and passed on that.
The SYS/CKS/CKK nametags will all get changed to something more neutral soon enough, don’t worry about that.
Due to business considerations, I hope that the concrete cabinet plan to be introduced in a few months will leave some companies who’s name is a very valuable asset unchanged-- in particular, probably China Petrol and China Airlines. I think they may well come up with come sort of compromise at least on those two.
Now there you’ve raised an interesting point AC. Why weren’t companies like Huanan Bank changed after 1945? I would gues the reason is that nobody really noticed–Japanese kanji phrases pass over into Chinese almost imperceptibly, and for people like Chiang Kai-shek, who was educated in Japan, names like that simply seemed natural.
But names like China Airlines for Taiwan’s flagship carrier stick out like a sore thumb. What if the Americans went off and started an airline called British Airways with government money?
But the difference is that there aren’t any Taiwan-based companies called “Japan Airlines” or “Japan Oil” … I’m pretty sure they would have been changed pretty damn quick if they were.
Yeah - but given the reputation and safety record of China Airlines, isn’t it a good thing for them not to be associated with Taiwan?
Then there are those Japanese era companies like, Taiwan Sugar or Taiwan Salt, whose names are in line with pan-Green Taidu agenda.
Once again the subtle slight of ignoring these Japanese era companies and just focusing on KMT era companies illustrate how perverse the local political environment is on Taiwan.
Thank God no one can remember if there are any Dutch Era or Qing Era companies still in existence on Taiwan. We might have to start renaming aboriginal tribes if they offended the Taidu politicians.
You are missing the point, as usual.
No one is saying anything about when or where the names were given; it is all about changing any names that are confusing for people (where would people expect to find the Central Bank of China, for example?) or names that do not inform of locale, such as the Chung Hwa Travel Service (Taiwan’s representative office in Hong Kong).
Got a question. Does all this proposed name changing amount to changing the status quo? China seems to think so and so does the U.S.
Going beyond renaming companies, which straw do you think is going to break the camel’s back? When ‘R.O.C.’ gets dropped from passports, or will it be sooner than that?
It has always been my opinion that Taiwan should simply change all of the names, then say…“oh but we are officially still the ROC.” Yes, I know that things are not this simple, but would the U.S. really protest if China Airlines was pushed into changing its name to Taiwan Airlines? That might incite the ire of the Chinese, and China Airlines that would have a paperwork fiasco overnight, but the damage would probably be slight in the long run. As for calling Chung Hwa Travel Service the Taiwan Representative Office or something, once the bitter pill was digested, I bet there would be no major qualms as long as the really official stuff still said ROC on it. Is China going to invade or embargo simply because Chung Hwa becomes Taiwan? Note: I am not referring to the “official name” of the country.
When I was growing up at home, I regularly tested my parents’ patience…just a bit…incrementally… They were angry each time. But as time went on, I ended up achieving a lot simply because I had rocked the boat on all of the small stuff. They no longer cared about it anymore. So let China Steel become Taiwan Steel! Long live paperwork problems!
Oh, and in my opinion, the U.S. has to say they are opposed to ANY name change in order to head off criticism from China. But I really doubt Washington cares if individual offices get name changes as long as the ROC does not officially become Taiwan. I bet the changes will happen…quietly.
