The Paris Olympics are right around the corner. In Taiwan, the government is doing everything it can to prepare athletes for the Games.
Athletes compete in sports competitions to win honor and take home the gold for their country. The Olympics views countries as units, so if a country’s name does not conform to what its citizens call themselves, then what does it mean to compete under a different name?
Japan stood up for Taiwan in the international community during the Tokyo Olympics. At the time, the Japanese political sphere helped Taiwan flip the script on competing in the Games under the name “Taiwan,” shedding the old “Chinese Taipei” naming.
At the time, pro-China proponents within Taiwan issued countless smears against the name rectification movement, with some saying it is unachievable. In the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Taiwan was admitted under the name “Taiwan.”
Former president and then-Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was not in support of the change. She tried to downplay the name rectification movement during the latest Olympic Games, working to quash supportive voices.
During the Olympics, Tsai referred to Taiwan as “Team Taiwan,” and Japanese media during live competition broadcasts would directly call it “Team Taiwan,” yet all the official documentation kept referring to it as “Chinese Taipei.” This was cowardice from the Tsai administration, brought about by a misjudgement of the situation.
This year, there is another Olympic Games. The way the international community is shaping up is increasingly beneficial toward Taiwanese sovereignty. The US has restated unequivocally that UN Resolution 2758 has nothing to do with China’s territory and makes no mention of Taiwan. The international community is growing increasingly tired of China’s chicanery.
French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is hosting this year’s Olympics, used to roll out the red carpet for China.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) paid an official visit to France this year, Macron’s attitude seemed to have soured. Not only did Macron press Beijing on its continued support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also on trade issues. Macron did not slink back on the foreign policy front either. However, his previous weakness has led to massive electoral losses for his political alliance in the EU parliament elections, causing him to dissolve the French National Assembly and hold snap elections, which also resulted in a political failure.
The right-wing National Rally — previously called the National Front — which won the first round of parliamentary elections on June 30, considers China a threat and excoriated it for attempting to stoke unrest in France’s overseas territories, going further by saying that China’s Belt and Road Initiative infringes on other nations’ sovereignty, human rights and liberties, and reprimanding China for its unfair trade practices against France.
Although the National Rally used to consider Taiwan as being “used by the US to promote imperialism,” it is resolutely opposed to China annexing it.
France could perhaps take a cue from Japan and stand clearly by Taiwan’s side in the Olympics and call it by its name. Still, Taiwan would have to be proactive in expressing its own willingness for this to happen. President William Lai’s (賴清德) Cabinet ought to strive to support Taiwanese Olympians. However, the best preparation would be to promote Taiwan’s use of its own name as it competes against other nations.
Tommy Lin is president of the Formosa Republican Association and the Taiwan United Nations Alliance.
Translated by Tim Smith
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