More often than not, it is China who is singled out as the bully when Taiwan and its people encounter injustice and ill-treatment on the international stage and at international events.
It therefore came as no surprise when Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) on Tuesday said Chinese pressure was behind taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun’s (楊淑君) decision to drop her appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport over her controversial disqualification from the Asian Games in China last year.
Some Taiwanese are quick to direct their fury at China, but now consider the case closed. However, simply blaming China should not mean it is the end of the story.
Indeed, from clandestine sabotage and blatant assaults to Chinese competitors verbally attacking Taiwanese competitors and ripping national flags from the hands of Taiwanese medalists, the list describing China’s alleged harassment of Taiwanese athletes is long. Considering its long-standing ambition to annex Taiwan and its attempts to belittle Taiwan at every juncture, China clearly is the usual suspect, and rightly so.
It is easy to pin the blame on China and to point the finger at international organizations and members of the international community who are so cowardly that they yield to China’s bullying and choose to comply with China’s schemes and trickery in degrading Taiwan. However, it is even more despicable when the ones allegedly toeing Beijing’s line are those who Taiwan calls its own.
Sadly, this appears to be what lies behind Yang’s surprise announcement last week.
According to the letter Gao publicized on Tuesday, which he said was written by Chinese sports official Wei Jizhong (魏紀中) and addressed to former Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee chairman Chang Feng-shu (張豐緒), Taiwan was advised to “weigh its options” in the appeal and give consideration to what chance it had of winning the case.
In all fairness, Wei’s letter, dated Dec. 22, could very well be read as simply stating China’s view on the issue, including the view that Taiwan may be blaming the wrong parties — namely, the Olympic Council of Asia and the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee.
Some are determined to link the Chinese official’s letter to the reasons behind Yang’s decision, but China cannot truly threaten or force Yang into making such a decision unless there is an organization or people who serve as China’s agents in Taiwan that coerced her into it. Yang would have been more likely to drop the appeal if the Sports Affairs Council pulled its support for her.
As former president of the Chinese Taipei Taekwondo Association, Chen Chien-ping (陳建平) disclosed that Yang has several times told him in tears that she feared for the safety of her family if she did not drop the appeal. If this is true, it is reasonable to believe that she made her decision under duress.
It is one thing to be bullied by others; it is another to be let down by the ones you consider your own. There is nothing more disheartening and demoralizing than knowing the people who are supposed to be standing by you are giving up the fight.
It is little wonder that Yang, after saying that she was withdrawing the appeal in order to focus on her training for the 2012 London Olympic Games, is reportedly now considering dropping out of the London Games altogether.
What good is the Sports Affairs Council, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government for that matter, when they cannot stick up for their own people? In the current circumstances, Taiwan needs less cowardly officials and more of those who have the guts to stand up for their own people and resist China’s saber rattling.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with