Houston Community News >> Taiwan Threatens to Skip Olympics Over Name
4/28/2007 -- The spat over the
Olympic torch relay route could just be the start of more cross-strait wrangling
in the run-up to the Games next year.
Taiwan said yesterday (April 27) it would boycott the Beijing Games if China
demanded that it participate under the title 'China Taipei'.
Currently, the island is referred to as 'Chinese Taipei' at international sports
events.
In response to questions by lawmakers, Premier Su Tseng-chang said Taiwan would
boycott the Olympics if the mainland tried to alter its official title. His
remark came just a day after Taipei turned down an offer from Beijing to be
included in the torch relay.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has accused China of 'dwarfing'
its status as a sovereign nation by lining up Taiwan alongside the Chinese
territories of Hong Kong and Macau in the planned route.
The DPP's tough stance was widely seen as a campaign tactic to woo
pro-independence supporters ahead of the upcoming legislative and presidential
elections.
Taiwan's title could emerge as another sticking point in the run-up to the
Games.
The Taiwanese sports authorities said in a statement late on Thursday that
Beijing has been using the name 'China Taipei' or 'Taipei China' to refer to
Taiwan.
The statement cited the 2001 World University Games in Beijing as an example.
During that event, the 'Chinese Taipei' team from Taiwan was renamed 'China
Taipei' by the mainland.
"Judging from its past actions to belittle our nation, it is likely that China
will resort to similar gimmicks to interfere with the Taiwanese delegation's
participation," it said.
Taiwan was forced to drop its official title 'Republic of China' in the 1976
Games due to pressure from Beijing. The island boycotted the event that year.
While acknowledging that China was using the relay route to underscore its claim
over Taiwan, critics say the island has more to lose by turning away the Olympic
torch.
"The rejection does not hurt China," said the United Daily News yesterday. "It
is Taiwan's international image that has been tarnished."
(Contributed by Asia News Network)