For Immediate Release
Washington DC – May 15, 2006
Contact: (202) 547-3686
Pressed By FAPA, USPS Drops China Reference
Since AMTRAK dropped its reference to “China” this past July when referring to Taiwan on its billing page pressed by FAPA, FAPA has received overwhelming support from Taiwan and from Taiwanese Americans for FAPA’s name rectification campaign. In its latest endeavor in this field FAPA urged the United States Postal Services (USPS) to drop the China reference on its website where the USPS referred to Taiwan as a province of China.
In a letter from USPS dated May 9, the USPS stated that it agreed to make the correction, drop the China reference, and apologized to FAPA for this error.
In its earlier letter to the CEO of the USPS in April, FAPA urged the USPS, a corporation created by the United States Congress, to adhere to the State Department guidelines. In a 1996 State Department unclassified memorandum providing guidelines on U.S. relations with Taiwan, the State Department states that, since the United States has no diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, U.S. officials need to refer to Taiwan simply as “Taiwan.”
James P. Wade, Vice President of International Business of the USPS, responded in the letter that “..insofar as this incident appears to be an isolated exception in the USPS’s compliance with this U.S. State Department guideline. As a rule, the listing in the USPS’ publications and in the USPS’ online applications all make reference to “Taiwan.” He continued, “I am pleased to announce that we have already contacted the USPS website programmers to make the change you request….I apologize for any anxiety this might have caused your constituency.”
FAPA President C.T. Lee said, “We applaud this immediate response from the USPS. Unfortunately and unbelievably, the China reference, when referring to Taiwan, is rampant in the international community. It takes time and persistence to point out to the international community the factual reality that Taiwan is not a province of China. And FAPA is determined and prepared to do just that!”
美國郵政總局回應FAPA要求，為台灣正名
由於FAPA於去年成功促請AMTRAK改正其網站，不再加註台灣為中國一省後，獲得許多來自台灣民眾以及台美人的廣大迴響。FAPA於月前再次接受FAPA會員請託，呼籲美國郵政總局(USPS, United States Postal Services)能夠更正網站，不要在台灣之後加註中國一省等不正確字樣。據FAPA瞭解，郵政總局是在其網站裡的「更新住址」部份，誤將台灣列為中國一省。
FAPA於日前接獲美國郵政總局的正式回函，表示已經應FAPA要求更正其網站，郵政總局並在信中致歉。
FAPA在四月初致USPS的信裡表示，USPS為一由美國國會所創立的企業，應該遵循美國政府（國務院）所訂定的準則。FAPA並在信中引述，國務院1996年的備忘錄裡曾要求所有政府相關部門以及其官員在往後提及台灣時，一律以「Taiwan」稱之，並不得使用其他名稱。FAPA也在信裡提及AMTRAK去年的成功案例。
郵政總局在這封五月九日的回函裡表示：「…這個事件為獨立個案，因為郵政總局一向遵守國務院的規定。正因為這樣的規定，所有郵政總局的出版物，以及相關網站都直接以英文名稱Taiwan稱呼台灣。」郵政總局接著表示：「我向您為了這個事件造成您會員任何不滿的地方致上歉意。…我很高興的向您表示我們已經通知USPS的網站工程師，根據您的要求修改網站。」
FAPA會長李青泰表示：「FAPA非常感謝美國郵政總局在短短的時間之內，回覆我們的要求。這種誤將台灣加註為中國一省的情形是不勝枚舉;這樣的敍述不僅與國際現實不合，有損台灣國格，更容易造成使用者的困擾。FAPA將繼續在國際社會為台灣正名努力！」
