Advocates of changing the national sports team’s name yesterday accused the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) of working for China instead of upholding the rights of Taiwanese, and called on the public to vote “yes” on referendum No. 13 so athletes can compete under the name “Taiwan” at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Team Taiwan Campaign coalition of groups rallied outside the the Sports Administration building in Taipei to demand a meeting with CTOC president Lin Hong-dow (林鴻道), who they said provided misleading information to pressure more than 50 athletes and coaches to publicly oppose the name change on Wednesday.
“Taiwanese have the right to express their opinion in the referendum on Saturday. It is a core value of democracy, so the name change to ‘Taiwan’ should be decided by the public, not by a few committee officials,” former Sports Administration minister Yang Jong-her (楊忠和) said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Yang called on the CTOC and Lin to clarify whether they had interfered in the referendum process by writing to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to express opposition to the name change, as the IOC has over the past few weeks sent letters that have been perceived as warnings, which has raised concerns that the referendum could leave athletes unable to compete at the Games.
“We can see that Lin is not speaking for Taiwanese, but rather working for China,” Yang said. “There is only one country preventing us from using the name ‘Taiwan’ and that country is China.”
“Lin and the CTOC are representing China’s interests and they are afraid of people telling the world that we want ‘Taiwan’ for international competitions,” he added.
Lin and the CTOC have resorted to blackmail, threatening Taiwanese athletes with the possibility of stripping their right to participate in the Olympics and even of the IOC suspending the CTOC’s membership, Team Taiwan Campaign spokesman Yoshi Liu (劉敬文) said.
“People have expressed a desire to change the team’s name to ‘Taiwan’ for the Olympics. This is a domestic affair and the people have a democratic right to a referendum,” Liu said. “This is for people to declare to the international community that we are ‘Taiwan,’ not ‘Chinese Taipei,’ but the CTOC is obstructing this process.”
Many athletes support the name change, including Italy-based top volleyball player Huang Pei-hung (黃培閎) and Taiwanese-American tennis star Jason Jung (莊吉生), as do Yang, other sports officials, international law experts and civic organizations, he said.
“Our campaign will help protect the rights of athletes, who will not lose their right to compete in international events,” Liu said. “We are fighting for our athletes to represent Taiwan, not the phony ‘ROC’ [Republic of China] and ‘Chinese Taipei’ names.”
“Athletes have told use that they want to compete as ‘Taiwan,’ which is close to their heart and their true roots. We are restoring their dignity and respect,” he said.
Most top CTOC officials are businesspeople who are profiting from the endeavors of athletes through deals and government contracts, and are focused on protecting their own benefits and not working in the interests of athletes and the public, Liu said.
The use of “Chinese Taipei” was forced on the nation by the authoritarian Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime during the Martial Law era, he said.
“Taiwanese did not have a say at the time, but now we are in the democracy era and it is our right to have a referendum to decide on the national team’s name,” he added.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS