When Taiwanese athletes entered the arena during the Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremony, Mayuko Wakuda, an announcer at Japanese broadcaster NHK, said: “It’s Taiwan.” It struck a chord with all Taiwanese, who began enthusiastically sharing the clip.
Saying “all Taiwanese” might not be entirely true, because Chinese were mad, and some people who live in Taiwan, but think they are Chinese, were mad, too.
Amazingly, playing up to the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said that “this is not the time to push the name rectification campaign.”
Not surprisingly, he was criticized by people who asked why he would not listen to what Taiwanese, especially the young generation, want and why the KMT could not go along with public opinion for once.
When Chinese streaming giant Tencent stopped the broadcast as Taiwan entered the arena as team No. 104, and instead broadcast a talk show, Chinese Internet users also missed the entrance of team No. 108 — the Chinese team. Hopping mad, they stormed a Tencent microblog, causing it to crash. To see that Chinese completely lack self confidence and that Chinese media are so fearful of Taiwan is dumbfounding.
Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) on July 24 said that most people think “Chinese Taipei” sounds weird, so when NHK said: “It’s Taiwan,” everyone started cheering in the representative office’s studio.
Why did the announcer say: “It’s Taiwan”? Because just as the world does not know any country by the name “Chinese Taipei,” nor do Japanese.
However, most Japanese know and like Taiwan, so when “Chinese Taipei” was announced to enter the arena, everyone was confused. Only after Wakuda added a clarifying “It’s Taiwan,” Japanese and athletes present began cheering.
Taiwan is of course Taiwan, and calling it “Chinese Taipei” is neither fish nor fowl, just as calling it Zhongguo Taibei (China, Taipei, 中國台北) or Zhongguode Taibei (China’s Taipei, 中國的台北) in Chinese is very strange.
Some “Chinese” in Taiwan think that by saying Zhonghua Taibei (Chinese Taipei, 中華台北), they would manage to trick themselves and others into believing that the Republic of China (ROC) still exists, yet they are afraid of uttering that title. It is as if they had split personalities.
It sounds odd when a media report says that “so-and-so from Tainan in Chinese Taipei won gold.” What does Tainan have to do with Taipei? What is wrong with “from Tainan in Taiwan”?
When traveling, Taiwanese — regardless of political affiliation — say “Taiwan” when someone asks where they are from, not the ROC; and all the good stuff is MIT — Made in Taiwan — not MIROC.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the NHK announcer is not the only one who says “Taiwan”: When medals are awarded, they are registered under Taiwan, and many other countries also speak of Taiwan.
People are guessing that it is about the approval of the Japanese government and its Olympic committee, but it could also have to do with Taiwan being an independent and sovereign country.
Unfortunately, Taiwan’s Olympic committee still refuses to rectify its name. When Olympic medalist Chi Cheng (紀政) in 2018 proposed a referendum on Taiwan participating under the name “Taiwan,” the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee opposed the suggestion. It is simply shameful.
The government should disentangle itself from the mess and change its name to “Taiwan Olympic Committee,” and Taiwan should face the world as Taiwan, and nothing else.
Twu Shiing-jer is chairman of the Taiwan United Nations Alliance and a former mayor of Chiayi City.
Translated by Perry Svensson
The US Senate’s passage of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which urges Taiwan’s inclusion in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise and allocates US$1 billion in military aid, marks yet another milestone in Washington’s growing support for Taipei. On paper, it reflects the steadiness of US commitment, but beneath this show of solidarity lies contradiction. While the US Congress builds a stable, bipartisan architecture of deterrence, US President Donald Trump repeatedly undercuts it through erratic decisions and transactional diplomacy. This dissonance not only weakens the US’ credibility abroad — it also fractures public trust within Taiwan. For decades,
The ceasefire in the Middle East is a rare cause for celebration in that war-torn region. Hamas has released all of the living hostages it captured on Oct. 7, 2023, regular combat operations have ceased, and Israel has drawn closer to its Arab neighbors. Israel, with crucial support from the United States, has achieved all of this despite concerted efforts from the forces of darkness to prevent it. Hamas, of course, is a longtime client of Iran, which in turn is a client of China. Two years ago, when Hamas invaded Israel — killing 1,200, kidnapping 251, and brutalizing countless others
Taiwan’s first case of African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed on Tuesday evening at a hog farm in Taichung’s Wuci District (梧棲), trigging nationwide emergency measures and stripping Taiwan of its status as the only Asian country free of classical swine fever, ASF and foot-and-mouth disease, a certification it received on May 29. The government on Wednesday set up a Central Emergency Operations Center in Taichung and instituted an immediate five-day ban on transporting and slaughtering hogs, and on feeding pigs kitchen waste. The ban was later extended to 15 days, to account for the incubation period of the virus
The government and local industries breathed a sigh of relief after Shin Kong Life Insurance Co last week said it would relinquish surface rights for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) to Nvidia Corp. The US chip-design giant’s plan to expand its local presence will be crucial for Taiwan to safeguard its core role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem and to advance the nation’s AI development. The land in dispute is owned by the Taipei City Government, which in 2021 sold the rights to develop and use the two plots of land, codenamed T17 and T18, to the
RSS