Taiwanese athletes won more medals at the Tokyo Olympics than at any previous Olympic Games, including the first medal ever in badminton, boxing, golf and gymnastics. These outstanding performances made for very exciting television for all Taiwanese.
Taiwanese athletes did not only shine in the competitions, they also displayed the culture and moral quality of the nation, and the world gave them a big thumbs-up.
Having grown up in Taiwan’s generally diverse, liberal and tolerant society, most of the nation’s athletes are gentle and courteous, and they were all sporting, as they were neither arrogant in victory, nor discouraged in defeat. In doing so, they gave full play to the high standards of Taiwan’s soft power.
The men’s badminton doubles Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) are very good examples of this. On July 30, they defeated Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the semi-final. Despite the ecstasy and excitement they must have felt after having won the match, they immediately bowed to Ahsan repeatedly to show their respect to the top Indonesian player, an action that won much praise from Indonesian Internet users.
The day before, 19-year-old Taiwanese table tennis player Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) was defeated by the world No. 1, Chinese player Fan Zhendong (樊振東), in the men’s table tennis singles semi-final. When asked by reporters after the match how he would rate his opponent, Lin simply answered: “Am I qualified to rate him?” With this answer, Lin, who is ranked No. 5 in the world, clearly displayed a wisdom and demeanor beyond his age.
Moreover, although Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎), the world’s No. 1 female badminton player, lost to Chinese player Chen Yufei (陳雨菲) by a slim margin in the women’s singles final on Aug. 1, everyone witnessed Tai’s willpower and spirit as she kept fighting until the end.
As President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told her on the telephone after the game: “You’re the best.”
Three years ago, after Tai won the badminton gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, an aggressive Chinese journalist asked Tai if she had felt a need to win that competition to prove that she really was the best player in the world, as she was ranked No. 1 without having won a big competition. In a calm voice, Tai responded by asking the reporter: “Is this really something that needs proving,” highlighting the ignorance and rudeness of the journalist.
Chinese athletes, on the other hand, repeatedly used coarse language during the Games.
After Chen won the gold medal, she pointed to the five-starred flag on her jersey in front of the camera, as if she was worried that the media might have failed to recognize her.
Such actions highlight the cultural and moral gap between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and which one is the better is self-evident. Through the Olympics, Taiwanese athletes once again allowed the world to see the nation’s positive energy.
Chang Li-chun is an assistant professor at Ming Chuan University’s Department of Journalism.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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