As a result of indifference from members of the hypocritical international community that do not have the guts to stand up to China’s despotism, Taiwan was again subjected to absurd treatment at an international event.
The ridiculousness was highlighted last week when Chinese Taipei Football Association secretary-general Chen Wei-jen (陳威任) said that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had fined Taiwan’s national soccer body US$5,000 after spectators displayed a flag promoting Taiwanese independence at a game in Kaohsiung on June 2.
According to Chen, the AFC said the display was “a breach of regulations against the exhibition of political flags and slogans at international matches.”
Unbelievable.
It is sad enough that Taiwanese athletes, unlike their counterparts from other nations, cannot compete with pride and honor for Taiwan, but must participate under the meaningless name “Chinese Taipei.” It is even more frustrating for the national soccer body to be fined by the AFC over a fan’s actions, a move that oppresses freedom of expression.
The AFC said the display of the flag was “an exhibition of political flags and slogans,” yet the name Taiwan’s teams compete under is itself political, a demeaning and geographically incorrect title that is a result of China’s bullying and sneaky attempts to shape a global impression that downgrades Taiwan’s sovereignty through the use of such a title.
If the AFC does not regard “Chinese Taipei” as political language, on what basis does it decide that a fan’s self-expression is an attempt to mix sports with politics?
Granted, it might be a necessary concession to refer to Taiwan as “Chinese Taipei” in international sport, in line with the protocol that the government signed with the International Olympic Committee. However, it does not mean that spectators must quietly accept this continuing injustice against Taiwan.
It was equally disappointing to hear Premier Lin Chuan (林全) say last week: “Chinese Taipei is the Republic of China.”
Lin should be reminded that just because the official delegation from Taiwan has to march under the absurd “Chinese Taipei” banner, it does not mean that the 23 million people in Taiwan want to be called “Chinese Taipei-ers.”
A poll released by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation late last month suggested that the percentage of people who regard themselves as “Taiwanese” has reached a record high of more than 80 percent, compared with 8.1 percent of respondents who consider themselves “Chinese” and 7.6 percent who identify as being both.
Most media outlets from other nations are willing to refer to Taiwan as Taiwan.
Self-respect gains respect. Taiwanese officials must not let themselves grow numb to such incorrectness and accept such injustice.
If Taiwanese do not demand a correction to the misunderstanding regarding their nationality, how can they expect members of the international community, global organizations and others to realize when they commit a mistake?
The government and the public alike must not remain silent when Taiwan’s sovereign status is questioned or its national image is undermined through inadequate references, otherwise Taiwan will never escape the shackles of being regarded as a province of China. If Taiwanese do not stand up for themselves, it will be only matter of time before the name Taiwan is permanently removed from world maps and replaced with the ridiculous “Chinese Taipei” appellation.
On March 22, 2023, at the close of their meeting in Moscow, media microphones were allowed to record Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dictator Xi Jinping (習近平) telling Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, “Right now there are changes — the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years — and we are the ones driving these changes together.” Widely read as Xi’s oath to create a China-Russia-dominated world order, it can be considered a high point for the China-Russia-Iran-North Korea (CRINK) informal alliance, which also included the dictatorships of Venezuela and Cuba. China enables and assists Russia’s war against Ukraine and North Korea’s
After thousands of Taiwanese fans poured into the Tokyo Dome to cheer for Taiwan’s national team in the World Baseball Classic’s (WBC) Pool C games, an image of food and drink waste left at the stadium said to have been left by Taiwanese fans began spreading on social media. The image sparked wide debate, only later to be revealed as an artificially generated image. The image caption claimed that “Taiwanese left trash everywhere after watching the game in Tokyo Dome,” and said that one of the “three bad habits” of Taiwanese is littering. However, a reporter from a Japanese media outlet
An article published in the Dec. 12, 1949, edition of the Central Daily News (中央日報) bore a headline with the intimidating phrase: “You Cannot Escape.” The article was about the execution of seven “communist spies,” some say on the basis of forced confessions, at the end of the 713 Penghu Incident. Those were different times, born of political paranoia shortly after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) relocated to Taiwan following defeat in China by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The phrase was a warning by the KMT regime to the local populace not to challenge its power or threaten national unity. The
Since taking office, President William Lai (賴清德) has been an active proponent of the Healthy Taiwan initiative. As a member of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, I have also contributed recommendations on various pharmaceutical policies. After the committee concluded its seventh meeting on Saturday last week, Lai announced that the government is considering a three-year suspension on the Drug Expenditure Target (DET) system’s routine drug price surveys, highlighting the need to further support drug supply resilience. While I am supportive of this policy direction, I must also stress the importance of maintaining our original objective of improving the quality of
RSS