China’s interference in an East Asian Olympic Committee meeting to revoke Taichung’s right to host the East Asian Youth Games is not a smart move and shows that it does not understand Taiwanese society, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
The committee announced its decision after a provisional meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, citing “political factors.”
China was reportedly unhappy about a referendum proposal in Taiwan to change the national team’s name to “Taiwan” from “Chinese Taipei” for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and pressured committee members into revoking Taichung’s right to host the Youth Games.
When asked for comment, Ko said he hopes that cross-strait tensions do not intensify, adding that the two sides should demonstrate mutual respect and understanding.
Taiwan is a democratic and free nation where everyone has the right to express their opinions, Ko said, adding that the referendum proposal is the manifestation of people expressing their political ideas and should be respected.
It is not known whether the proposal will be accepted, and Beijing must understand that Taiwanese society cherishes the values of democracy, freedom, diversity and openness, and domestic issues cannot be dealt with according to its thinking, he said.
Separately, New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) yesterday said China’s interference was clearly an attempt to meddle in November’s nine-in-one local elections.
“Is Beijing worried that things would get out of control if Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is re-elected?” he asked.
While a public opinion poll released on Tuesday showed that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator and Taichung mayoral candidate Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) is more likely to win the election, Hsu said he expects Lu’s support rating to fall following the incident.
Hsu also questioned KMT caucus whip Johnny Chiang’s (江啟臣) role in the incident.
Chiang and former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing on July 13.
If Chiang knew about Beijing’s plan and remained silent, his integrity would be questioned, and if he did not know, it would be unreasonable for him to endorse Beijing’s “one China” principle, Hsu said.
The KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party should take concrete measures to protect Taiwan, he said, adding that the NPP would continue to promote the referendum proposal.
“Only by holding the referendum can we send a powerful message to China, making it clear that Taiwanese will not succumb [to its pressure],” he said.
Political parties must work together to find a way to reverse the committee’s decision, instead of focusing on mud-slinging and making verbal attacks, Chiang wrote on Facebook yesterday.
“Now is not the time for discriminating between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, or the ruling and opposition parties,” he added.
Meanwhile, civil groups are continuing to promote the referendum proposal, despite pressure from China.
“Everyday on the streets we hear words of encouragement from people who believe in the cause. What I see is that people really want to see our athletes wearing uniforms that bear the name ‘Taiwan’ and represent us in the [Olympic] Games,” said Tunghai University student Chao Che-ju (趙哲儒), who volunteered to collect signatures for the referendum proposal.
They would be on the streets every day during summer vacation collecting signatures, he said, adding that they collected more than 500 signatures in three hours on Saturday.
For the referendum to be held concurrently with the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24, it must gather 281,745 signatures by Tuesday.
The proposal has collected more than 100,000 signatures so far, Taiwan-UN Alliance president Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) said.
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