Chinese Olympic Committee president Yuan Weimin (
By saying yes right away, Taiwan would have to accept the consequences. Flatly rejecting Beijing's request, on the other hand, risked provoking China and triggering a hysterical reaction.
Some people in Taiwan, however, acted too rashly. It was only proper that the Chinese-Taipei Olympic Committee should give Yuan a hearty welcome, but not that it pledged its support so quickly. Some people invoked nationalism to explain the rush to support Beijing's bid, others said backing Beijing could win eight years of peace at no cost.
A recent report in the United Daily News (
Germany held the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, under Adolf Hitler's leadership, to create a peaceful and serene image. In September 1939, Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland and started World War II. If the PRC attacked Taiwan one year after the 2008 Olympics, it would be turning its back even quicker than Hitler.
Some people believe that if Taiwan supports China's hosting the Games, cross-strait relations will improve and China will alter the deadline. Let's again review history.
In September 1990, one year after the Tiananmen Square Incident (
But when Taiwan applied in 1995 to host the 2002 Games in Kaohsiung, Beijing was firm in its objections. Beijing had Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, exert pressure upon other members. What was originally to have been a secret ballot became an open vote. The countries which supported Kaohsiung but feared retaliation by China had no choice but to vote for Pusan, South Korea. Kaohsiung lost to Pusan by a vote of 37-5.
When it needs others' backing, Beijing will mouth the sweetest words. But "politics first" seems to win in most situations, as evident during Kaohsiung's bid and when former president Lee Teng-hui (
However, the recent "City-to-City Forum" (
In 1990, Taiwan demonstrated its goodwill by supporting Beijing's Asian Games. At that time, despite the international economic sanctions imposed on the PRC because of the Tiananmen Square massacre, some businesspeople from Taiwan continued to invest in China. Cross-strait relations, however, did not improve. Indeed, China repaid Taiwan by performing large-scale military drills and launching ballistic missiles near the island.
If the PRC believes in nationalism, it should discard Marxism-Leninism. How is that the PRC government can have slaughtered tens of millions of Chinese? How is it that the Tiananmen massacre could occur? How can it be possible that President Jiang Zemin (
Beijing should host the Olympics -- with Taiwan's help -- but not now. Beijing must first build a peaceful, fair, humane, corruption-free country and then it will have a truly patriotic image.
Paul Lin is a political commentator currently based in New York.
Translated by Jackie Lin
On Sunday, 13 new urgent care centers (UCC) officially began operations across the six special municipalities. The purpose of the centers — which are open from 8am to midnight on Sundays and national holidays — is to reduce congestion in hospital emergency rooms, especially during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year. It remains to be seen how effective these centers would be. For one, it is difficult for people to judge for themselves whether their condition warrants visiting a major hospital or a UCC — long-term public education and health promotions are necessary. Second, many emergency departments acknowledge
US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media. Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine. Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous. Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so
The central bank has launched a redesign of the New Taiwan dollar banknotes, prompting questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — “Are we not promoting digital payments? Why spend NT$5 billion on a redesign?” Many assume that cash will disappear in the digital age, but they forget that it represents the ultimate trust in the system. Banknotes do not become obsolete, they do not crash, they cannot be frozen and they leave no record of transactions. They remain the cleanest means of exchange in a free society. In a fully digitized world, every purchase, donation and action leaves behind data.
RSS