Social Democratic Party (SDP) member Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) yesterday decried the International University Sports Federation’s (FISU) indiscriminate substitution of “Taiwan” with “Chinese Taipei” in media brochures issued by the Taipei Universiade Organizing Committee.
The Summer Universiade is to begin on Saturday next week.
The federation should have listed the nation, referred to as “Chinese Taipei,” under “T” as per its code, TPE, in accordance with the International Olympic Committee’s rules, Miao said.
However, it was listed under “C” after China, adding to confusion, Miao said.
The federation’s actions breach an agreement between the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee made in 1981, which established the so-called “Olympic model,” which is followed by Taiwan’s Sports Administration when registering or holding international sporting events, she said.
The “Olympic model” does not ban the use of “Taiwan,” Miao said, citing as an example the 2009 International World Games in Kaohsiung, which followed the model. Taiwan was mentioned several times in an introduction to the 2009 event on its Web site, Miao said.
An introduction to Kaohsiung’s sports facilities, referred to Taiwan as a “country.”
Under the IOC model the title “Chinese Taipei” only applies to the team name for sporting events, the flag and the emblem, but the federation has told organizers to change “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei island” and “New Taiwan dollar” into “Chinese Taipei dollar” in brochures, Miao said.
Miao said that the federation’s subordination of Taiwan was likely deliberate, as it has extensive experience supervising international university-level sports events.
Yang Liguo (楊立國), who is vice chairman and secretary-general of Federation of University Sports of China, which is overseen by the Chinese Communist Party, and Xue Yangqing, who is on the federation’s media and communication committee, might have exerted Beijing’s influence on the foundation, causing it to “mix up” Taiwan’s place on its Web site and direct the foundation to strictly adhere to “Chinese Taipei” when translating the brochures.
The Taipei Universiade Organizing Committee changed “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan” in sections of the brochure and on Thursday published an updated online version, she said.
If the foundation rejects the changes, the committee should file with the Court of Arbitration for Sports to rule on the federation’s seemingly excessive demand that the committee only use “Chinese Taipei” in brochures, she said.
The court is an independent institution based in Lausanne, Switzerland, that resolves sports-related disputes. Its jurisdiction is recognized by all Olympic sports federations.
“Taiwanese should be allowed to be the masters of their name after the government spent NT$19.8 billion [US$650 million] of taxpayers’ money to host the Universiade,” she said.
Committee spokesman Yang Ching-tang (楊景棠) yesterday said that the changes were pending approval by the FISU.
Despite the online update, it still has a passage that reads: “Bravo the Bear, the Universiade mascot, is based on the Formosan black bear, a species endemic to Chinese Taipei.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS