Several civic organizations yesterday jointly called for the official title and flag of the nation’s Olympic team to be “corrected,” saying they hope that “Taiwan” will be used at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Taiwan participates in the Games under the name “Chinese Taipei,” with a flag depicting five rings and a plum blossom, the Republic of China’s national flower.
The flag raised during medal ceremonies at the Olympics does not represent the nation and cannot lead to the normalization of Taiwan’s national identity, the groups said, adding that it should be replaced before the Tokyo Olympics with a flag that represents Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
“At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Taiwan attended under the title of ‘Formosa,’ but athletes marched behind a self-made banner that read ‘under protest’ at the opening ceremony. At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada, the International Olympic Committee agreed to use the name ‘Taiwan,’ but Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) flagrantly refused to send athletes to the Games,” Taiwan People News chairman Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興), who launched the campaign, told a news conference in Taipei.
“This type of Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] behavior, according to which ‘gentlemen cannot coexist with thugs,’ should be corrected by the new government, it should push for the nation’s Olympic team to use the title ‘Taiwan,’” Chen said.
Chen said that seeing the five-ring flag reminded him of the refugee team at the Olympics and made him worry that people would mistake Taiwan for a nation of refugees.
“Was the old KMT government a refugee regime?” Chen asked.
“To use the name ‘Chinese Taipei’ is problematic in that it suppresses the dignity of Taiwanese.” New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said.
Even US media outlet CNN reported about Taiwan competing in the Olympics under a different name, Lim said, adding: “Taiwan must seize this opportunity to change its Olympic flag while it can and then raise it at the Olympics one day. The government cannot act like the KMT did in the past, receiving permission from the International Olympic Committee to use the name ‘Formosa’ or ‘Taiwan’ and then protesting and refusing the opportunity.”
“I thank the foreign media for speaking up on behalf of Taiwan and asking why our team is called ‘Chinese Taipei’ and not ‘Taiwan.’ Even foreigners recognize that ‘Chinese Taipei’ is not a nation. This kind of statement accords with universal values,” Taiwan Association for China Human Rights chairman Yang Hsien-hung (楊憲宏) said.
“When we are standing on the podium at Olympic medal ceremonies with the world focused on us, we win cheers and acclaim, but at the same time we lose dignity and lose the nation. Our competitive pride is exchanged for loss of face. We have a medal in our hands, but no honor,” Ketagalan Institute president Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) said. “Changing our Olympic flag means changing our vow to our athletes. It prepares Taiwan to go into the world.”
In related news, as Japan prepares to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Japanese Internet users have been taking to the Web in support of using “Taiwan” as the title of the nation’s Olympic team instead of “Chinese Taipei.”
As of press time last night, 48,903 people had signed a petition at www.change.org, calling for the International Olympic Committee to allow the name change.
The petition organizer’s Web site — www.taiwan2020tokyo.org — says that Taiwan is under pressure from China to use the title “Chinese Taipei” at international sporting events, adding that Taiwan is not a part of China.
The Web site’s founders said that their aim is to have the world become reacquainted with Taiwan and to have the nation take part at the 2020 Olympics under its own name.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS