Statement from the DPP Central Standing Committee on the Beijing Olympics

Regarding the upcoming Beijing Olympics, the DPP would like to make the following six points:

1. We believe that the best name for our athletes participating in the Olympics is the “Taiwan Olympic Team”. The term “Chinese Taipei Olympic Team” is a result of political oppression from the Chinese government and compromises made with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This is not the goal sought by Taiwan.

2. China has used its advantage as the host country to degrade Taiwan’s status by manipulating Taiwan’s name and marching order at the Opening Ceremony. This gives a false notion that there is one China. Politicizing a sporting event violates the IOC’s Olympic Charter as well as the Olympic Spirit. We strongly oppose and protest against their actions.

3. Beijing’s decision for Taiwan to march under the simplified Chinese character ‘zhong’ (中) for Chinese, instead of the IOC agreement to march under “TPE” is a violation of the IOC and the 1989 Hong Kong agreement which guaranteed Taiwan to march separately from Hong Kong and Macau. We believe that even if the marching order is to be based on simplified Chinese characters, Taiwan must march under the character “tai (台)” for Taiwan or Taipei in order to distinguish ourselves from the Hong Kong and Macau teams.

4. KMT officials have ignored the controversy over the Taiwan team’s placement in the marching order and instead, KMT officials from all ranks are attending the Opening Ceremony. Their participation helps China to degrade Taiwan’s status. Thus we believe that the Taiwan Olympic Team and all Taiwanese politicians, including those from the KMT, should abstain from attending the Opening Ceremony.

5. The marching order at the Beijing Olympics is of great importance and will affect future international sporting events. Yet, President Ma has announced that all issues have been resolved and that he is willing to accept this arrangement. President Ma knows clearly that the precedent set at this Olympic Games will have a large impact down the road. Still, he is ignoring public dissatisfaction with this controversy. We feel that President Ma should bear the full responsibility for this historic mistake.

6. During the Beijing Olympics, the DPP will organize a task force to watch closely any developments during the Games. We will continuously monitor and evaluate the proceedings, and protect Taiwan’s dignity and interests.

Statement from the DPP Central Standing Committee on the Beijing Olympics