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Editorial: Let the real games begin

As expected, Taiwan's participation in the Olympic Games in Athens has become the target of various crude attempts at oppression by the Chinese government. Even though the Olympic flame, which represents the Olympic Spirit, has not yet returned to Athens and there is still a week to go before the official opening of the games, the Chinese government is already displaying its overbearing political arrogance in an attempt to make the name "Taiwan" less visible, or even disappear completely.

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) bluntly said that Taiwan and China find themselves in a state of "quasi-war." She emphasized that the cross-strait struggle no longer is a simple political or military matter, pointing out that it now has spread to every aspect of daily life, including trade, sports, culture and even mass entertainment.

Premier Yu Shyi-kun also advised the public to raise their psychological defenses. He lamented incidences like A-mei's (阿妹) forced recantation for having sung the national anthem during the presidential inauguration in 2000, the demands that Taiwan's advertising in Athens be withdrawn and Beijing's actions against Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien-lung (李顯龍) for his visit to Taipei, saying that the people have become numb to these assaults.

In the run-up to the departure of the nation's Olympic team, the government has sought to use announcements and advertisements posted around Athens to increase awareness of Taiwan within the international community at this global sports event. However, the Beijing authorities were quick to put pressure on a preparatory committee for the Athens Olympics, asking them to remove everything that Taiwan had posted.

In the case of A-Mei, her songs are popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and they encourage ties of friendship within the Chinese-speaking community. She is also a source of pride for Taiwan and Beijing becomes incensed with, and wants to destroy anything that Taiwanese can take pride in. Now that the athletes representing Taiwan are preparing to set off for the games, they take with them the hopes and support of 23 million Taiwanese. The nation has high hopes for the baseball team in particular, which has provided a real morale boost for our society. Rest assured, however, that Beijing will employ every means at its disposal to put pressure on the Taiwanese team over the course of the Athens games.

The relationship between the two sides of the Strait has developed as a result of complex historical and geopolitical factors. The conflicts between politicians on both sides shift according to these objective factors and subjective perceptions. But the lives of ordinary people are constantly being disrupted by politics to the extent that they have become the victims of the political process. Ordinary people on both sides of the Strait now follow the examples of politicians in constraining each other's actions. The result of this is that the Strait will become a gulf that cuts one society off from the other.

The joy of an athlete's victory and sharing the emotions of their countrymen -- whether in success or failure -- is one of the best ways of developing a national community. Beijing consciously rejects the humanism embodied in this idea, and insists on barbarically oppressing Taiwan's attempts to rise up.

Taiwan does not need to resort to mobilizing politicians or initiate struggles between political parties to resolve this situation. The government simply needs to encourage excellence and competitiveness in a number of high-profile sports. As our athletes compete with their international peers and excel, the contrast between China's political oppression and the light of Taiwan's humanism will be seen the international stage.
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