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Group tells sports fans to shout it out: ‘Go Taiwan’

By Flora Wang
STAFF REPORTER, WITH AP
Wednesday, Aug 13, 2008, Page 2

A local newspaper reported yesterday that Taiwanese fans were planning to skirt a ban on displaying the nation’s flag at the Olympics by waving the Myanmar flag instead.

The Chinese-language United Daily News said fans would wave the Myanmar flag because, like the Republic of China (ROC) flag, it features a star-studded blue square at the upper left-hand corner of a red backdrop.

From a distance, the two flags look the same.

Under a protocol signed in 1981 between the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Taiwan competes under the name “Chinese Taipei” and the ROC’s national flag and national anthem cannot be used at competition venues.

Meanwhile, 10 members of the New Culture Team, a group affiliated with former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), yesterday launched a “Go Taiwan” campaign, encouraging the public to show their support for the nation’s Olympic team by spreading the phrase online and through mobile text messages.

At a press conference outside the Legislative Yuan, the group suggested that users of instant messaging software change their screen names to “Go Taiwan! Taiwan is innocent” to show that there is nothing wrong or illegal about using the word “Taiwan.”

Cellphone users can also send text messages with the slogan to friends, the group said, and bloggers can post articles and video clips with the slogan on their Web pages.

The slogan should be a greeting for telephone and face-to-face conversations, they said, encouraging the public to show their pride by getting together with friends to watch the Games and cheer the nation’s athletes.

“We should cheer for our own team and shout out our feelings. Let’s shout ‘Go Taiwan’ and cheer for the Taiwanese team without hesitation,” the New Culture Team said.

The New Culture Team also voiced support for Cheerleading Squad for Taiwan captain Yang Hui-ju (楊蕙如), who was denied entry at Beijing airport on Saturday on her way to cheer for Taiwanese athletes.

Yang told reporters upon returning to Taiwan that Beijing airport police questioned her for one hour and went through her luggage before ordering that she leave the country.

Fang Yen-hui (房彥輝), a member of the New Culture Team, condemned China for rejecting Yang.

“The way China treated Yang and [fellow squad member] Lee Kun-lin (李昆霖) revealed China’s true stance against ordinary people,” Fang said.
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