It is hard to imagine this Alice in Wonderland behavior happening in any other country. Writing the term “compatriot” on that banner meant that the PRC team was saying that Taiwan is part of communist China. It is the height of arrogance to unfurl such an untrue phrase in a foreign country where the PRC team are guests of the Taiwanese.
Taiwanese are not “compatriots” to the communist Chinese in the PRC.
The Americans and the British are not compatriots, even though we have many things in common in our inherited cultures, nor are Canadians and Americans compatriots in any sense of the word. We are friends, but we are not compatriots.
Brits, Canadians, Americans, Australians and New Zealanders all live in separate countries. They are not compatriots. For the PRC team to unfurl its banner in public at the Deaflympics calling their Taiwanese hosts “compatriots” was blatant propaganda.
Did anyone in Taiwan complain about this? Or was this kind of rude and impolite linguistic behavior on the part of the visiting PRC team just accepted by the Taiwanese public as par for the course, business as usual? I did not see any news reports complaining about the banner insult.
DAN BLOOM
Chiayi
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