Despite his law degree from Harvard, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
By now, the people of Taiwan expect China to bark and growl at anyone and anything that reinforces -- however remotely -- Taiwan's sovereignty. Therefore, stories about Beijing's nit-picking demands -- such as the one about a restaurant in China being ordered to remove a map of Taiwan from its walls -- raised few eyebrows.
However, the people of Taiwan do not expect to see one of their own officials blatantly toeing Beijng's line right here in Taiwan and trampling the nation's dignity to boot. More surprising to many was that the villain was no other than Ma, the much-adored golden boy of Taiwan politics, and that Taipei police officers would become Beijing's accomplices.
Before the recent AFC Women's Championship games even opened in Taipei, Ma pleaded with soccer fans to not bring the ROC flag with them to the games. It was difficult to reconcile the Ma who made such an abject plea with the man who has talked tough in so many disputes with the central government, especially over the issue of tax redistribution.
But even more outrageous than Ma's pandering to Beijing was seeing Taipei police officers at the stadium forcibly confiscating ROC flags from patriotic fans who simply wanted to cheer on their home team -- especially when dozens of PRC flags were lining the stadium.
Thanks to a discriminatory agreement between the International Olympic Committee and Taiwan upon the latter's resumption of membership in 1981, Taiwan must use the name of "Chinese Taipei" and its official flag and song of the "Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee" in all Olympic competitions. Taiwan is forced to follow the same rules in many other international sporting competitions. It is bad enough that Taiwan teams have to swallow their pride and accept this demeaning treatment when they play abroad. To have to play under the same conditions at home is simply unacceptable.
In addition, the Olympic model of dealing with the Taiwan teams is inapplicable to private individuals. What right does the International Olympic Committee or any other sports organizations or associations have to discipline fan behavior? Even the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee was forced to concede this point yesterday.
The Taipei police have admitted that they lacked any legal basis to intervene in the stadium and confiscate flags. They say they were simply trying to persuade the individuals involved to stop waving the ROC flag. But, why even bother to persuade, if the action isn't illegal? Aren't the police only supposed to intervene when there is a violation or potential violation of the law?
Although just a teen, video-game sensation Tseng showed a lot more guts than Ma. He yelled "Taiwan No. 1" upon defeating his opponent in the final and waved the ROC flag with obvious pride during the award ceremony. Despite intimidation from Chinese reporters outraged to see the ROC flag, Tseng stood firm.
Tseng has been talking about returning to school to complete his education. It's obvious he needs no further lessons on either patriotism or courage.
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