The government will protect the rights of its athletes who participate in next year's Beijing Olympics regardless of the route taken by the Olympic torch, a Council on Physical Fitness and Sports official said yesterday.
Li Kao-hsiang (李高祥), vice chairman of the council, made the remarks during a discussion on the progress of negotiations over the torch route hosted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus. On April 26, Beijing announced that the Olympic torch would travel to Taiwan from Vietnam before continuing on to Hong Kong.
Taiwan immediately rejected the itinerary, saying it belittled the nation's sovereignty.
"In consideration of China's international image, I don't think Beijing would dare to use the torch issue [as an excuse to intimidate] Taiwanese athletes," Li said.
"Besides, the rules of the Olympic Games do not regulate issues pertaining to the torch relay. China cannot use [the issue as an excuse] to make a fuss," Li said.
"Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Director-General Yang Jong-her (
However, Li would not say whether or not Taiwan would consider boycotting the Games if the negotiations over the torch relay had an unfavorable outcome.
Li told the KMT caucus that his council would continue to negotiate with China, but added that Taiwan's sovereignty and the pride of its people had to be respected.
"The torch has to come to Taiwan via a third country. And it must pass through [another country before entering China] after leaving Taiwan," he said.
KMT Legislator Huang Chih-hsiung (黃志雄), an Olympic silver medalist in taekwondo in 2004, said he was worried that the participation of Taiwanese athletes might be jeopardized if Taiwan and China could not reach an agreement on the torch relay route.
Huang also said he suspected that the Democratic Progressive Party government was taking advantage of the issue to create a "false impression" that "China is bullying Taiwan" to improve the party's standing in the elections.
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