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Editorial: The sport of grovelling

The principle "keep politics out of sports" is probably possible to abide by in most countries, but it is a nightmare to apply in Taiwan. Faced with China's relentless oppression, Taiwan has failed to maintain its dignity at international sports meets, even agreeing not to use its national flag and anthem so that it can participate in the Olympic Games.

This might be understandable if it were only other countries that humiliated us, but the fact is that certain homegrown officials and educators are the prime culprits with their trampling on the nation's dignity. Whenever Chinese government officials or teams visit Taiwan, this bunch of sycophants bend over backwards to avoid causing offense.

The National Council of Physical Fitness and Sports is reportedly going to change Taiwan's national title to "Chinese Taipei" for the William Jones Cup international basketball invitational that the council has held for almost 30 years. The "Republic of China," "ROC" and "Chunghua team" will be removed from the tournament's regulations. Nor will the national flags of any participating teams be displayed. The purpose of these changes is to avoid upsetting a women's basketball team from China's Zhejiang Province -- participating for the first time -- for fear that it may boycott the event.

Is it really so important for Chinese basketball teams to visit Taiwan? Must the council respect the sensitivities of participating nations to the extent that it demeans itself? It is hoped that the claim of the deputy secretary-general of the basketball association, Wang Jen-sheng (王人生), is true when he says that the whole thing is simply a misunderstanding. Even so, if Taiwanese officials show so little self-respect when hosting international events, then there are hardly grounds to protest when the International Olympic Committee or other groups amend this nation's title as it sees fit, nor can there be a case for demanding that the proper name of this country be reinstated.

Soccer fans will remember the 9th Asian Women's Soccer Championships that were held in Taipei in 2001. On that occasion, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- who styles himself as a defender of the "Republic of China" -- ordered that the national flag not be displayed either inside or outside the Zhongshan Soccer Stadium where the event was held in deference to the sensitivities of the visiting team from China. While police were ordered to confiscate any ROC flags brought by spectators, China's team were allowed to flaunt the flag of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Ma has form on this score.

It was hardly surprising, therefore, that last month the Hsiuping Institute of Technology removed the national flag and a portrait of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) in order not to offend delegates from China who were attending the institute's graduation ceremony. Worse still, this grovelling took place in front of students and parents.

At last month's annual general meeting of Lions International in Hong Kong, organizers decided against the showing of any national flags during the event, but because of pressure from Beijing, the PRC flag was still used at one activity. Beijing is clearly willing to do anything to affirm its sovereignty on the international stage. Taiwan's officials, in contrast, fall over themselves to be self-effacing, even at events which they host.

Can such cowardice possibly win the respect of nations that compete on Taiwanese soil?
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