Under pressure from China’s years-long infiltration of international organizations and use of its influence, “Chinese Taipei” has become the only name Taiwan can use at international competitions. However, during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, Japanese public broadcaster NHK referred to “Chinese Taipei” as the “Taiwanese” team in its reporting. It was an expression not only of the good relationship between Taiwan and Japan, but also helps Taiwan take a giant leap toward lifting the “Chinese Taipei” curse.
When NHK host used the name Taiwan for the Olympic delegation, it was almost certainly not a spur-of-the-moment decision by one individual. A reasonable conclusion would be that it was an official decision, as the Japanese government is taking increasingly concrete and open action in support of Taiwan.
However, many domestic media outlets continue to refer to the Taiwanese team as the “Zhonghua [Chinese]” team (中華隊), although everyone knows that during the party-state era, referring to the English name “Chinese Taipei” as Zhonghua Taibei” (中華台北) in Chinese was a matter of self-deceit to maintain the view that the Republic of China was the true representative of China, when it was simply “Zhongguo [China] Taibei” (中國台北). The additional use of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee’s emblem further reinforces the fact that the party emblem is also the national emblem and that Taiwan remains unable to separate Zhonghua from Zhongguo.
Even more disappointing, as many TV stations, print media outlets and social media continue to refer to the “Zhonghua team,” the Central News Agency (CNA), which is supposed to speak up for Taiwan, also continues to use the outdated name “Zhonghua team” on its Chinese-language Web site.
Leaving aside the question of whether Taiwan would be able to get the International Olympic Committee to agree to changing “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan” or “Formosa,” that CNA is unable to follow NHK’s lead even domestically and refer to the team by its correct name — “the Taiwanese team” — means that it is unworthy of its status as the nation’s official news agency.
Given the international political reality, Taiwanese athletes might still be unable to compete internationally under the name “Taiwan,” but domestic media, including the CNA, continuing to refer to the “Zhonghua team” is tantamount to belittling the nation and misleading the international community into thinking that the Taiwanese government is happy with the name “Chinese Taipei.”
At a time when the Chinese threat is causing a strong backlash from countries in East Asia and the Indo-Pacific region, and when the international situation is becoming increasingly beneficial to Taiwan, the government and official news agency should cast off the title used during the authoritarian era and take the lead by referring to the national team and athletes as Taiwanese.
If state media continue to use symbols and terminology of the authoritarian era and do nothing to take the lead in responding to the international community, then what are they going to say to Taiwan’s international friends who do not fear Chinese pressure and who are willing to stand with Taiwan against Beijing?
Peng Jui-jen is deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and an adjunct assistant professor at Soochow University’s Department of Political Science.
Translated by Perry Svensson
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
To counter the CCP’s escalating threats, Taiwan must build a national consensus and demonstrate the capability and the will to fight. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) often leans on a seductive mantra to soften its threats, such as “Chinese do not kill Chinese.” The slogan is designed to frame territorial conquest (annexation) as a domestic family matter. A look at the historical ledger reveals a different truth. For the CCP, being labeled “family” has never been a guarantee of safety; it has been the primary prerequisite for state-sanctioned slaughter. From the forced starvation of 150,000 civilians at the Siege of Changchun
The two major opposition parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), jointly announced on Tuesday last week that former TPP lawmaker Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) would be their joint candidate for Chiayi mayor, following polling conducted earlier this month. It is the first case of blue-white (KMT-TPP) cooperation in selecting a joint candidate under an agreement signed by their chairpersons last month. KMT and TPP supporters have blamed their 2024 presidential election loss on failing to decide on a joint candidate, which ended in a dramatic breakdown with participants pointing fingers, calling polls unfair, sobbing and walking
RSS