Taiwan is Taiwan. This is how the world addresses it, and there is no question about it. However, if the nation wants to participate in international organizations as “Taiwan,” the key is not facts, or justice, but winning enough votes from member states of those organizations.
Some Japanese friends are petitioning for Taiwan to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics as “Taiwan,” highlighting the mistreatment that it has suffered.
However, by proposing a name rectification referendum, it might be getting itself into quite a predicament. If proponents fail to collect enough signatures or to meet the threshold for the referendum, it could affect international support for Taiwan.
SOVEREIGNTY FIRST
There are differences in the degree of difficulty of a name change and recognition of nationhood. Given the current situation, Taiwan’s priority should be insisting on its sovereignty, emphasizing that China and it do not belong to each other and not accepting any name that downgrades it to part of China. The nation’s free and democratic elections give this status full legitimacy.
As to a legal name change — that appears difficult both internally and externally. Internally, a consensus is absent on changing the country’s official title from the Republic of China (ROC) through constitutional amendments. Externally, apart from the Chinese threat, even the US, which has served provided a security umbrella for Taiwan, opposes a name change at this point.
A referendum on participation in the Olympics under the name “Taiwan” targets one event only, so it can avoid the constitutional issue, but even if the referendum is passed, it would merely be a publicity campaign. If Taiwan were to request that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allow it to participate as “Taiwan,” its effort would be in vain if it could not obtain enough votes from the IOC members.
THE HISTORY
In the 1960s, Taiwanese Olympic medalists Yang Chuan-kwang (楊傳廣) and Chi Cheng (紀政) took part in the Olympics under the name “Taiwan,” but in 1979, Taiwan agreed to change its name to “Chinese Taipei” and its national flag to the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag, or “plum blossom flag” (梅花旗). This was the result of negotiations between former National Tsing Hua University president Shen Chun-shan (沈君山), a special envoy of the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, and China.
Shen has said that Beijing was willing to accept the term “Chinese Taiwan” during negotiations at the time, but the seven members of the KMT’s decisionmaking taskforce responsible for the talks believed that using the word “Taiwan” might support the cause of Taiwanese independence, so they would rather use the absurd term “Chinese Taipei.”
Under the circumstances, Shen could not propose using only “Taiwan.”
Chi once recalled this past event with both Shen and Chinese Olympic Committee executive member Zhang Qing (張清), and she remembers the talks very well.
It is not so easy to correct the mistake made by the KMT party-state. Perhaps we can seize this opportunity to focus on Taiwan’s national status first, trying to promote the idea that Taiwan is Taiwan, and that in the name “Chinese Taipei,” the “Chinese” is simply a cultural term, like the word “Arabic,” and “Taipei” is the capital of Taiwan.
As for a name change, we could wait until a chance comes along.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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