Wrote David Chang, the Taiwanese leadership has launched a campaign to remove the word
"China" from company names. The campaign began in October 2006 when President Chen Shui-bian changed Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, named after the late mainlander president,
to Taoyuan International Airport as it is located in Taoyuan County near Taipei.
Last week Chen changed four company names: Chinese Petroleum Corp became Taiwan Chinese
Petroleum Corp, China Shipbuilding Corp became Taiwan International Shipbuilding Corp,
Chunghwa - a Mandarin word that means China - Post Co Ltd became Taiwan Post and the
Central Bank of the Republic of China was changed to the Central Bank of the Republic of China
(Taiwan).
President Chen has hinted that all enterprise names which contain "China" and "Chinese" must
be changed.
It is not clear where the name-change campaign will lead. Names which have yet to be rectified
include: the Republic of China, China Airlines, Chinese Bank, Chinese Culture University, China
Television Co, Chinese Television System, Broadcasting Corp of China, the Chinese-language
China Times and the English-language China Post newspapers. (Source: David Chang, dpa
German Press Agency, The Raw Story, Feb 10, 2007).