Twenty-four overseas Taiwanese organizations in a joint letter urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to stop infringing on spectators’ freedom of speech and allow them to display Taiwan signage.
The letter, addressed to IOC president Thomas Bach and members of the IOC executive board, was led by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), along with 23 other overseas Taiwanese organizations from the US, Japan, Europe, Argentina and Costa Rica.
During the Olympic games, signs or items with the words “Taiwan” on them have been snatched away by Olympic security staff or Chinese spectators. Some spectators holding such signs have been forcibly ejected from venues, the letter said, adding that the IOC’s “Taiwan-specific restrictions” were “unfair” to spectators supporting the nation.
Photo: Ann Wang, REUTERS
These violent acts were against the Olympic spirit and “infringed on the freedom of speech of Taiwanese spectators at the Olympics to rightfully express support for the athletes from their country, ‘Taiwan,’” it said.
The letter also called on the IOC to “let Taiwanese athletes compete under the name ‘Taiwan’” rather than forcing them to use “the discriminatory misnomer ‘Chinese Taipei.’”
Taiwan is an independent country, which is a long-established “status quo,” and the nation’s Olympic teams should be able to “compete proudly and properly under the name ‘Taiwan,’” FAPA president Kao Su-mei (林素梅) said.
Due to political pressure from China, the IOC unfairly contravenes the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter that “every individual must have access to the practice of sport, without discrimination,” and that “sports organizations within the Olympic Movement shall apply political neutrality,” she said.
“For four decades since 1984, capitulating to the political pressure from the People’s Republic of China [PRC], the IOC has unjustly forced Taiwan to participate in the Olympics under the name ‘Chinese Taipei’ and prohibited the display of its national flag and the playing of its national anthem during the games,” the letter said.
“We call on President Bach and the full IOC Executive Board not to succumb to China’s political pressure and immediately stop its discriminatory requirement for athletes from Taiwan to compete under the fictitious name ‘Chinese Taipei,’ which falsely implies that Taiwan is part of China, even though Taiwan has never been ruled by the PRC for a single day,” it said.
The letter also called on the international community to “support democracy and freedom by opposing authoritarian China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty and independent statehood through the forcible imposition of the humiliating name ‘Chinese Taipei’ on Taiwan.”
The letter urged Bach and other Olympic officials to “resist China’s political bullying against Taiwan” and eradicate all discriminatory and unjust restraints imposed on Taiwanese athletes and supporters.
“We call on the IOC to live up to the ideals and principles of the Olympic Charter, allow Taiwan to proudly compete under its name, ‘Taiwan,’ and use the national flag and anthem that can truly represent Taiwan,” they said.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS