China Airlines is not an airline from the People's Republic of China, but the national airline of the Republic of China, better known as Taiwan. This leads to confusion. After deliveries of corona protective masks from Taiwan to Europe were sometimes assigned to the wrong sender in April, the government in Taipei showed itself ready for changes.
Now the next step in this direction has been taken: the parliament approved an adjustment of the China Airlines brand on Wednesday (July, 22). According to this, graphics of Taiwanese symbols will first be attached to the planes to underline the airline's identity. Later, the Ministry of Transportation is to make proposals for renaming the airline.
What does the People's Republic say?
The challenge will be to find a name that reflects the airline's Taiwanese origins, but at the same time does not upset the People's Republic of China too much. In 2003, the airline had already put the lettering «Taiwan» in large letters on a Boeing 747, but never had the jumbo jet take off like that after pressure from Beijing.
Taiwan is the name of the island where the Republic of China is located. The People's Republic of China considers it as part of its territory. In contrast, the Republic of China considers itself a sovereign state.
