Taiwan’s flagship carrier has redesigned its cargo planes to show their origin more clearly, in a new paint job meant to dispel any misperceptions that it is linked to mainland China.

The government-owned China Airlines on Monday unveiled the first of its six new Boeing 777F cargo planes, showing the trademark plum blossom logo on the fuselage accompanied by the brand name in a reduced size. China Airlines is named after the Republic of China, the official name of Taiwan — though it is often confused for an airline from the mainland.

Another redesign feature was in the prominent display of the word “cargo,” which had the letter C wrapping around a visual representation of Taiwan’s landmass.

Forthcoming China Airlines aircraft would show its national affiliation more clearly, said Wang Kwo-tsai, Taiwan’s political deputy minister of transportation and communications.

Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang said China Airlines’ passenger planes would also be redesigned, and that the government was taking the matter seriously.

The carrier said that following the delivery of the first Boeing 777F, two more were expected before the end of January.

Some took the opportunity to poke fun at the new look, with opposition Kuomintang legislator Lee De-wei saying that Taiwan had been metaphorically “swallowed by the big C,” referring to China. “Will Taiwan independence factions be satisfied with the design?” Lee said, mocking the move as a waste of taxpayer money.

Lawmaker Wang Ting-yu from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said the design might be too subtle for foreigners to make the connection to Taiwan.

Founded in 1959, China Airlines had for years displayed Taiwan’s “Blue Sky with a White Sun” national flag. It switched to the plum blossom design in 1995 to avoid being affected by disputes over the island’s political status.

Earlier this year, when China Airlines carried out an international mission to donate medical supplies during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, some foreigners wrongly assumed that the aid came from mainland China.

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