Taiwan raised its flag at the Athletes' Village yesterday in Busan, South Korea, at an official welcoming party for the nation's sports stars and officials at the 14th Asian Games.
Led by delegation leader and President of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee Thomas Huang (
They paraded around the Village square while a brass band played, before being greeted by Athletes' Village Mayor Wang Sang-eun, who said he hoped for a "new start" in relations between the two countries.
He told the delegation and onlookers that he had been working with Taiwan for over 30 years through his work as chairman of the Busan and Kaohsiung sister cities program.
He later told the Taipei Times the initiative had faltered.
"I was working on friendship for three decades but something went wrong and now we want to make it better.
"I was very sorry at the time but now, because of the Olympic spirit, I am a new man and we are looking for a new start," Wang said.
Huang agreed that an effort should be made to forge better relations with South Korea.
"Though we haven't had diplomatic ties for some time because of problematic issues which still exist, here, in this Village, it is a new start.
"I share his idea," Huang said of Wang. "The Asian Games represents a new frontier. It's sharing the Olympic theme of togetherness."
Huang said sports promoted "harmony, peace, friendship" and participating in events such as the Olympics and the Asia Games was a way for Taiwan to engage the world, even though it was being squeezed politically by China.
Under an agreement with the International Olympic Committee, Taiwan is allowed to compete at Olympic events as long as it does so under the name "Chinese Taipei." As a result, it participates at various international sporting events under the Chinese Taipei flag rather its national flag.
Taiwan has no diplomatic relations with South Korea, which recognizes only the government in Beijing.
"We must build champions instead of fighting, sport replaces fighting and this is the future," Huang said. "We have had a sports agreement for three years with South Korea and this way we are bringing people together."
Also present at the flag-raising ceremony, the Chairman of the National Council of Physical Fitness and Sports Lin Te-fu said that Taiwan would be expanding its sports programs. He said this way the country's image could be improved abroad.
He said more money, time and effort would be spent on producing sports stars of the future, but there was no magic recipe for success.
"It will take time to produce these sports stars," Lin said. "It is not instant coffee."
He said particular attention had to be paid to developing sports, particularly "key sports."
The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee and National Council of Physical Fitness and Sports have outlined a program that is intended to bring home the elusive gold medal it has never won at the Olympics.
Instead of spending on minor or recreational sports, the sports bodies intend to focus on sports that it believes it can do well in.
"We have to keep an eye on the key sports and get the associations together to provide the right training and assistance," Lin said.
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