The Olympic torch will not pass through Taiwan in 2008 if Beijing insists on designating Taiwan as part of China's "domestic route," officials from the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports said yesterday.
Taiwan will not accept a "domestic route" invitation, said Chang Fen-fen (
Reports from Hong Kong said that Hong Kong's Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho (何志平) told members of the Legislative Council on Wednesday that Hong Kong will be one of the stops that Beijing has committed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the 2008 Olympics torch relay, which will also include stops in Tibet, the Yangzi River, the Yellow River, the Great Wall, Macau and Taiwan.
Olympic protocol
Commenting on the latest reports, Chang said that according to Olympic protocol, the Olympic torch relay is divided into a "domestic route" and "international route." While the host country can choose freely the cities where the torch relay will pass, the "international route" must be decided upon by the separate national Olympic committees of the various countries.
The host country should notify the separate national Olympic committees about where the "international route" will pass one year or one-and-a-half years ahead of time according to Olympic protocol, Chang said.
Chang added that her council contacted the IOC headquarters yesterday and was told that the IOC has yet to hear anything from the Chinese Olympic Committee about details of the "international route" of the 2008 Olympic torch relay.
Meanwhile, Chu Shou-chien (朱壽騫), vice chairman of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, said that the Chinese Olympic Committee has continuously released news since March this year that the 2008 Olympic torch will be relayed to Taiwan from Hong Kong or Macau, apparently including Taiwan into the "domestic route" arrangement, which is absolutely unacceptable to Taiwan.
Chu said that both Taiwan and China are separately registered members of the IOC and Taiwan enjoys equal status to China on the IOC, stressing that Taiwan will not accept Beijing's "domestic route" plan.
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