Kaohsiung City Councilor Chen Hsin-yu (陳信瑜) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday encouraged spectators at the World Games — which begin tomorrow — to wear outfits or accessories displaying Taiwan’s image.
Chen made the call while wearing a hand-made patchwork outfit bearing a Taiwan-shaped patch on her chest and carrying a bag printed with the Chinese characters saying “Taiwan is a treasure island.”
The Taiwan sovereignty defender said she would wear the outfit while attending the games.
PHOTO: HOU CHENG-HSU, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen’s colleague at the City Council, Huang Chao-hsin (黃昭星), said he had ordered 50,000 custom-made flags printed with the Chinese characters for “Taiwan,” which he said he would distribute to spectators.
Huang said the international sports event was a good place to advertise Taiwan and to “let foreigners know about Taiwan’s existence.”
Under World Games rules, which follow those of the Olympic Games, Taiwan cannot use its formal national designation Republic of China and must rather refer to itself as “Chinese Taipei.”
As a result, the Taiwanese team is barred from using the national flag and must instead bear the banner of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee at the opening ceremony.
However, the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC), the organizer of the 2009 World Games, has not imposed any ban on spectators bringing national flags to the Games, although there is a size restriction that limits flags to a maximum of 2m by 1m.
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