Pro-independence groups yesterday renewed their call for a referendum to rename the national sports team from “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan” when participating in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
A coalition that includes the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), the Social Democratic Party, World United Formosans for Independence, some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and the Lee Teng-hui Association for Democracy urged the public to join the referendum initiative as part of a name rectification movement.
The nation’s athletes have participated in the Olympics under the names “Taiwan,” “Formosa” and “Republic of China (ROC),” but delegations also withdrew from some Games due to controversies over their titles until the term “Chinese Taipei” was adopted in 1981.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan is the only member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that is prohibited from using its name and national flag when participating in the Games, which is an insult to Taiwanese athletes, track and field Olympic medalist Chi Cheng (紀政) said.
Displaying the bronze medal she won at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, which the nation participated in under the name “Taiwan” after the IOC changed the name from “ROC” to avoid confusion with the Chinese delegation, Chi said the government was wrong when it decided not to participate under the name “Taiwan” in subsequent Games.
“The wrong decision has made us suffer this long and we are still fighting today to rectify Taiwan’s name,” she said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan People News founder Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興) criticized the DPP administration, saying a referendum proposal would be unnecessary if the government took the initiative to rename the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) as the “Taiwan Olympic Committee” and launch a renaming process with the IOC.
“The Taiwanese government is the one that has kept obstructing Taiwan. From [former president] Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to the DPP, all of them have obstructed Taiwan,” Chen said.
New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said during last year’s revision of the National Sports Act (國民體育法), his party had proposed renaming the CTOC something more neutral — the “National Olympic Committee” — but was rebuffed.
This suggested that the DPP administration is imposing limitations or restrictions on itself, Lim said.
DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said he felt “ashamed” as “external disruption and political realities have forced us [the DPP] to put aside our political ideals.”
Yao called on the public to join the referendum drive and then pass a plebiscite with a record-setting approval level.
The TSU has collected 3,400 signatures for the proposal since February last year to give to the Central Election Commission.
Campaigners hope a referendum could be held in conjunction with the nine-in-one local elections at the end of this year, TSU Chairman Liu Yi-te (劉一德) said.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS