A group of pro-localization organizations yesterday called for Premier William Lai (賴清德) to lend his support to a proposed referendum to have the national team compete in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics as “Taiwan” rather than “Chinese Taipei.”
China was extremely irrational in using the name rectification campaign initiated by Taiwanese civic groups as a pretext to meddle in sports events, Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-sen (張葉森) said, referring to the East Asian Olympic Committee’s (EAOC) decision on Tuesday to revoke Taichung’s right to host the first East Asian Youth Games next year.
The decision was taken in a vote reportedly called by China’s representatives due to the name rectification campaign.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Taiwan, an EAOC member, voted against the motion, while Japan abstained, the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) said, adding that the EAOC includes Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, North Korea and Mongolia.
Lai has previously described himself to the legislature as “a pragmatic political worker for Taiwanese independence,” Union of Taiwan Teachers chairwoman Hsiao Hsiao-ling (蕭曉玲) said, calling on Lai to demonstrate his pragmatism.
As the governing party, the Democratic Progressive Party should use the public support that it has at this critical moment, she said, urging candidates running in the Nov. 24 elections to also support the campaign by helping to collect signatures.
Taiwanese should bravely let the world know that “Taiwan is Taiwan,” not part of China’s territory or “Chinese Taipei,” a moniker that the nation has been forced to use in international competitions since 1981, Central Taiwan Society chairman Liao I-en (廖宜恩) said.
The campaign’s Web site yesterday showed that it had garnered 89,573 signatures as of Wednesday.
It needs to collect 280,000 signatures by the end of next month to meet the second-stage threshold.
On Tuesday, CTOC vice chairman Tsai Szu-chueh (蔡賜爵) said that the public has the right to call for a referendum, but the CTOC could not play a role in or advocate for such a move.
Tsai declined to comment on whether a referendum would infringe on Olympic Charter guidelines.
A CTOC official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Olympic guidelines do not forbid Taiwan from holding a referendum on its name.
Additional reporting by CNA
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