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At the gala opening ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday, a contingent of just four Taiwanese athletes walked with a flag that doesn’t look like the flag of the Republic of Taiwan. Also, when the name of their nation was announced it was not Taiwan, but “Chinese Taipei”, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as well as the host nation – the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Taiwan, though a self-ruled democracy of 23 million people on an island in South China sea, is considered by China as its breakaway province which it seeks to reunify with the mainland someday in future. China also wants all countries to snap diplomatic ties with the island and globally isolate it applying its so-called “one China policy”.
To abide by the Chinese demand, IOC too framed its rules to prohibit delegations from Taiwan from using the name (or, the more formal Republic of China) or any symbol that can suggest the island is a sovereign nation.
Even a week ago, Taiwan’s Olympic Committee said it would skip the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Games in Beijing citing problems of delayed flights due to Covid-19 restrictions. The real reason, however, was the prohibition on use of their official name during the ceremonies. Also, the country had a concern that attending them would help China reaffirm its claim over Taiwan in the international arena.
But the island nation had to reverse its decision under pressure from the IOC which asked it to “cooperate in sending personnel” to attend the ceremonies.
The volte face was criticised by human rights groups in Taiwan who consider the decision can be perceived as the country’s support for Chinese government’s human rights violation, especially against Uyghur minorities.
READ MORE:
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/east-asia/taiwan-winter-olympics-beijing-games-b2006643.html
https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-sports-beijing-taiwan-taipei-13f0f1769874557dad489b0675605096
https://theconversation.com/why-is-taiwan-competing-in-the-olympics-under-chinese-taipei-175895