Beijing Olympics: Taiwan vs. China

The Olympics are around the corner, with the opening ceremonies start on August 8th, at 8 PM (i.e. 8/8/08 – 8 PM – 8 is lucky, as in 8Asians). I was wondering when I was going to read an article on Taiwan’s involvement in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In Sunday’s New York Times, the newspaper details some of the concerns by the Taiwanese delegation in “A Side Competition in Beijing: Island vs. Mainland“:

“Taiwanese athletes insist that the Olympics are about sports, not politics. Besides, relations between mainland China and Taiwan have been on the upswing after Ma Ying-Jeou, the conciliatory Taiwanese president, was inaugurated in May…At the heart of the anxiety is a political disagreement over the Chinese words for the name of the Olympic delegation from Taiwan, known in English as Chinese Taipei. The Chinese word for the first part of the name is officially Zhonghua. That comes from Zhonghua Minguo, or Republic of China (中華民國), the name that the historically dominant political group here, the Kuomintang, prefers for Taiwan. Mainland China signed an agreement with Taiwan in 1989 recognizing Zhonghua Taipei (中華臺北) — Chinese Taipei — as the name for Taiwan’s delegation. Years earlier, Taiwan had promised the International Olympic Committee that it would make a gesture to the mainland by changing its delegation’s original name and not using the official Taiwanese flag or the national anthem in the Olympics. But sports officials on the mainland often call the Taiwanese delegation Zhongguo Taipei (中国台北). Zhongguo (中国), which means Middle Kingdom, is the Chinese name for China. Referring to the Taiwanese delegation as Zhongguo Taipei implies that the athletes and the island they represent are part of China. Sports announcers in China often use the name Zhongguo Taipei when talking about Taiwanese athletes, and signs at sports events on the mainland display that name.”

The irony is that the English name of Taiwan, or Chinese Taipei, however confusing the name may be, is at least different and recognized as a country different and separate from the People’s Republic of China. But in Chinese, China can publicly manipulate to the world that Taiwan is a part of China by representing Taiwan’s Chinese name that favors its political agenda, despite it being counter to what it has agreed upon in the past (and the non-Chinese speaking/reading world doesn’t know the difference). There is no “lost in translation” here – but a deliberate, constant effort by China to continually portray Taiwan as a rogue nation that has always been a part of mainland China. It bothers me to no end that Taiwan has to use the name “Chinese Taipei” in the Olympics, as well as use a separate flag to represent itself. Are there any other countries in the world that have to do that as well???

Considering China does consider Taiwan a rogue, separatist state, it is remarkable that China is having Taiwan represented in the Beijing Olympics – but no doubt a condition of hosting the Games. Hopefully, China and its citizens will be respect Taiwan’s participation in the Olympics. For me, I’ll be rooting for the United States and Taiwan.