Viewers around the world were wowed by the creative spectacle of Friday's opening ceremony for the Asian Games in Doha.
As the audience applauded the entrance of delegates from 45 Asian nations and regions into the stadium, many Taiwanese viewers couldn't help but feel frustrated when they saw the delegation from Taiwan marching under the absurd "Chinese Taipei" banner.
This is what Taiwanese athletes are faced with, unlike other participants who are able to compete in the name of their country with pride and honor.
While sportsmanship and fair play have always been promoted in the sporting world, time and time again the nation's athletes are not afforded the same respect and dignity other participants expect when they take part in international events.
"Chinese Taipei" is a meaningless moniker. Taiwan is a sovereign state with its own government, elections, currency and territory. Taiwan negotiates its own treaties and has its own president.
Canada does not compete in international athletic competitions as "Canadian Ottawa," just as the Japanese would find it ridiculous to compete as "Japanese Tokyo." Taiwan should be no different.
It is unfair to force the nation's 399 athletes -- the fourth-largest Asian Games delegation after China, Japan and South Korea -- to compete under such a meaningless name when they work just as hard as their counterparts from other countries.
It is disheartening to see the oblivious response of the international community to the obvious unfairness of this situation, especially when it has arisen just to placate the nation's lunatic neighbor across the Taiwan Strait.
It is even more frustrating to witness the government utter failure to make progress on this issue even though it has spent a fortune on public relations firms and commercials to back the nation's bids to participate in the UN and the WHO.
The bottom line is that the DPP has done very little to highlight the nation's plight on an international stage such as that provided by the Asian Games, in effect choosing to lamely accept the ridiculous convention of "Chinese Taipei."
It is true that Taiwan signed a memorandum of understanding in 1991 to compete in the Olympic Games and other international sporting events as "Chinese Taipei." Nevertheless, despite China's bullying and the indifference of the hypocritical international community, Taiwan should not succumb to such an outrage without making its stance known.
For those who are logical and reasonable, this comes down to an issue of respect: Taiwan won't be respected by other nations if it doesn't respect itself.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Election Study Center at National Chengchi University, the percentage of respondents who considered themselves "Taiwanese" increased from 56 percent last year to 60 percent this year.
In view of this trend, the government needs to vigorously assert the nation's name -- Taiwan -- in every instance. Failing to do so only further diminishes the nation's international status and serves to give an air of legitimacy to China's disgusting pressure.
The government has the responsibility of increasing the nation's visibility on the international stage. This is why it is important for the government to use its voice to let the world know that the nation's athletes compete for Taiwan, not "Chinese Taipei."
Two weeks ago, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) raised hackles in Taiwan by posting to her 2.6 million Instagram followers that she was visiting “Taipei, China.” Yeoh’s post continues a long-standing trend of Chinese propaganda that spreads disinformation about Taiwan’s political status and geography, aimed at deceiving the world into supporting its illegitimate claims to Taiwan, which is not and has never been part of China. Taiwan must respond to this blatant act of cognitive warfare. Failure to respond merely cedes ground to China to continue its efforts to conquer Taiwan in the global consciousness to justify an invasion. Taiwan’s government
This month’s news that Taiwan ranks as Asia’s happiest place according to this year’s World Happiness Report deserves both celebration and reflection. Moving up from 31st to 27th globally and surpassing Singapore as Asia’s happiness leader is gratifying, but the true significance lies deeper than these statistics. As a society at the crossroads of Eastern tradition and Western influence, Taiwan embodies a distinctive approach to happiness worth examining more closely. The report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional habit of sharing meals — 10.1 shared meals out of 14 weekly opportunities, ranking eighth globally. This practice is not merely about food, but represents something more
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
RSS