The "Chinese Taipei" Conundrum

Hard to believe it's already been two years (more or less) since the Summer Olympics. Of course, when talking about Taiwan in the Olympics, the topic of "Chinese Taipei" always comes out. This time around, whether it be because Taiwan only has one athlete participating this year, or because it's not in China's home-turf (Beijing Summer 08 Olympics), but it hasn't received much press and "noise" as in 2008.

Regardless, a few smaller media news outlets have covered it - once again reminding us that despite the claims that the Olympics are a non-political event, it inevitably is because of China.

Chinese Taipei, what Americans call Taiwan, marched out into BC Place to the cheers of some 60,000 Olympic fans during the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies Parade of Nations on NBC Friday night. The name Chinese Taipei has a very convoluted history that has to do with its long, historical conflict the People's Republic of China and its relationship to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), according to Wikipedia.

I found a couple other articles that show quite the stark differences in reporting on Taiwan. This is the issue that is constantly being brought up in regards to Taiwan. Within Taiwan, there will always be "blue" and "green" biased news, and on the international stage, "China" and "Taiwan" biased news. Although, I will have to make the argument for being one being propaganda, and the other being real news. Take the following two articles for example, both reporting on similar things, but with a very contrasting tone:

This one with a China-slant:

The controversy has ever been there after the 1971 loss of seats by Republic Of China (ROC). The name Taiwan has been rejected by the Republic Of China as its participating name as it feels that people of both the parts of divided China are Chinese and no one is less Chinese than the other.

This one with a Taiwan-centric tone:

Chinese believe to be the rulers of Taiwan which they call as Chinese Taipei while Taiwan, on the other hand, is fighting for freedom. They want to be known as Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei.

The above clearly shows why we need to be able to question and evaluate statements in the media independently, and not take things at face value. The first tells the world that Taiwan (grouping all Taiwanese together) believes that they are also Chinese. This is clearly untrue, as polls after polls starting from when A-bian came into office in 2000, show a continual growing trend in the people in Taiwan identifying themselves as being Taiwanese. By the way, this is one of the accomplishments that A-bian is often overlooked for - that is organizing and driving the Taiwan-centric mindset not only in Taiwan, but outside of Taiwan as well.

The second article gets it right: We want to be known as Taiwan, not Chinese Taipei. But, it ain't about politics right?!

The Lone Taiwan Olympian

Another Winter Olympics, and another lonesome Olympic for Ma Chih-hung being the only representative athlete from Taiwan to participate in this year's 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Here's an interview by the Taipei Times with Ma (the athelete):

TT: Will you carry the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag?

Ma: I will carry the flag. [He was also the only athlete and the flag bearer at the Turin Olympics.]

TT: What are your feelings about that?

Ma: It’s a huge honor. But it’s only me [on the team] right now, so I hope other sports can qualify in the future. I hope by holding the flag, people will focus on our sports. I have to keep this going, so that [Taiwan] can compete in every [Winter] Olympics.

Considering he hails from Pingtung, it's more likely he's a "green" supporter, so I was sort of disappointed with his response to these questions. He basically sidestepped the issue, but I can't really blame him (since it could cause a lot of unneeded stress/attention) considering he's the only athlete from Taiwan to participate. He'd much rather devote his time and energy to winning a medal- something I understand coming from one who played sports as well.

Nevertheless, for those of you who are able to make it to Vancouver for the Olympics either tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday, bring out your Taiwan flags! Let everyone know that Taiwan does have a national flag (albeit the R.O.C. flag) because it is a sovereign country. Any other flags that represent Taiwan will do also (DPP flag, World Taiwanese Congress flag, etc), considering the "Chinese Taipei" flag is just about "Taiwanese" as Ma Ying-jeou claims to be.

Here's the luge schedule (Run 4 is medal round, so only if he makes it that far will he be in it):

February 13, 2010

Scheduled 17:00 - Men's Singles Run 1

Scheduled 19:10* - Men's Singles Run 2

February 14, 2010

Scheduled 13:00 - Men's Singles Run 3

Medal Event Scheduled 15:10* - Men's Singles Run 4

Taiwan Won 4 Medals, What?

So after 16 days or so, I'm finally back to being Taiwanese again. For a while there I was too ashamed to even say I was rooting for Chinese Taipei, mainly because I'm not Chinese, nor is my family from Taipei. But, in my effort to inform people, I decided to let a lot of my friends know how many medals "our" team had. To sort of my surprise, but not really, about half of my friends had no idea what Chinese Taipei was, nor knew why Taiwan was being called Chinese Taipei. To keep it brief in an attempt to not lose their interest, I just said that China has bullied the IOC and a load of other countries into disallowing any sort of "Taiwan"-ness on the international stage. Not being allowed to use our name, nor our national flag, nor our national anthem, nor any sort of emblem or thing representing our country was demanded by China and Co.

Anyways, glad the Communism Party is over, aka the Beijing Olympics.

In China there is no Taiwan

Not to anyone's surprise, the Chinese crowd at the games have cheered Taiwan as their own-- but rather than cheering "Go Taiwan," they cheer, "Go China!" They must get so confused when they see people cheering for Taiwan, instead of China, even though the athletes are coming from "Chinese Taipei." As this article shows, the majority of the Chinese that still live on the mainland eat and breathe CCP propaganda. They know nothing of Taiwan's autonomy and current pseudo-independence via status quo. How sad it is for 1/5th of the world's population to be brainwashed into the ideologies of the CCP.

As always, when making the point that Taiwan does not want formal declaration of independence, they cite the DPP's loss this past year. But when it's convenient, they cite the "wonders" of Ma's economic policies for his win this past year. At least this time they also recognize that the Taiwanese are strongly opposed to unification, which for the most part is true- except for the few KMT whos dieing wish would be to "reunite" back with China. And I use quotes this time because the KMT would be reuniting back with China on the mainland, but as a whole, Taiwan would not be "re"uniting as most of the people on Taiwan were not part of the KMT exodus from China.

Anyways, the best part is that the same Chinese that are rooting for the Taiwan athletes would just as quickly turn against them and berate them if the athlete showed a Taiwan flag.

"From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. It should not be like this, my brothers!"

Sidenote I: Props goes to NBCOlympics.com for at least showing the actual flag of Taiwan instead of the Chinese Taipei flag- albeit still calling them Chinese Taipei.

Sidenote II: You can watch pretty much all games online at NBCOlympics.com, and I just saw the badminton match for Taiwan's Hsieh vs Iran's Mehrabi. You can just go here and find the match and click "Rewind" to watch. It was a pleasant surprise to hear the side conversation between the coach and Hsieh speaking in Taiwanese. And yes, you do hear the crowd rooting for China even though it's Taiwan's Hsieh playing. Don't get me wrong, no problem for them to root for other countries, but root for them with their correct nationality. At the very least, how about a "Go Chinese Taipei." Or better yet, don't root at all so that non-Taiwanese/Chinese won't get the wrong impression that Chinese Taipei is really, Chinese Taipei.

At What Cost

Rest in peace, Todd Bachman. Attacked by what I can only say deranged Chinese, and likely brainwashed into believing the CCP propaganda, he and his wife were attacked and Todd eventually fell at the hands of that Chinese who eventually committed suicide. All this on the watch of "thousands" of security forces and military personnel. I guess this just shows who the Chinese really care about- themselves.

My question is, why isn't this making bigger news? It is hardly the frontpage on many of the Olympics sections on news sites, such as the Seattle Times. It's on the side as a sub-article. If this happened anywhere else, I'm sure it would be getting a lot more attention. Is this a cover-up by the Chinese who won't release any details and thus the media has nothing to write off of-- or is this China once again bullying everyone into believing this was a one time deal.

How many more may have to die before we take action? Perhaps the U.S. should do more than just express that their "thoughts and prayers are with the victim and family." At what cost will it take to finally step up. It's not so much that it was an American who died, nor that it was a Chinese who did it- but to let it happen after they were so proud of their security, and then it's nothing more than a sub-article on the frontpage?

In other news, congrats to the first "Chinese Taipei" athlete to medal, Chen Wei-Ling. For those of you who don't know, I'm actually "Chinese Taipei" for the next 15 days, after I'm Taiwanese again. Ridiculous right?

The Highlight of the Olympics Will Be...

When Taiwan wins a medal and the athlete pulls out the official national flag for Taiwan and raises it like You-Chen Liu did here in Seattle less than a year ago. Although it would probably be a lot more dangerous for a Taiwan athlete to do so in a stadium likely filled with many legions of security guards and Chinese who believe that Taiwan is a part of China. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see how China reacts on this "world-stage," and I have no doubt that they already have protocols or plans in place that would quickly bring down the athlete who raises the Taiwan flag.

It is wrong for the IOC to continue to allow China to force Taiwan to accept things at their will; it is wrong for China to force Taiwan to be "Chinese" at their will. While Taiwan is under agreement to "follow the rules" and not use the official national flag, nor the national anthem if they place, so was all parties concerned under agreement to use "Zhonghua Taipei" as the title for Taiwan in the Olympics- and yet that too had to be "re-negotiated" this time around and declared a "diplomatic victory" by Ma.

Michael Turton's resposne to a comment in his blog on the Seattle event puts it into perspective:

Comment:

Michael, the Chinese Taipei team agreed to participate under the team flag (as shown in the WCG site) - shouldn't he honor the agreement and drape himeself in the team flag?

Turton's Response:

Yes, and when blacks went on the bus in the south in the 1960s, they agreed not to sit up front too.

Yes, for the most part agreements should be followed, but when things are clearly wrong- should we just stand down and not protest? Besides that, the IOC/China/Taiwan agreement on the "Chinese Taipei" name had been agreed upon since 1989. Yet, China "protested" this agreement this past month in trying to use something along the lines of "China's Taipei" or "Zhongguo Taipei," instead of the agreed upon name of "Zhonghua Taipei" or "Chinese Taipei."

You-Chen Liu, you are our hero.


That said, with the KMT in power now, it is likely that the KMT would have serious consequences in place for the athletes if they did not adhere to the "Chinese Taipei" that is supposed to be them. Therefore, the chances of this occuring? Slim, but I'm hopeful.

Surprise Surprise

As if we didn't see it coming, China plans on calling the Taiwanese Aboriginals, "minority peoples from Taiwan." To the keen ears and eyes, this is a subtle attempt at throwing the Taiwanese Aboriginals under the scope of ethnic Chinese.

Hearing that the Taiwanese Aboriginals would be performing some things during the opening ceremonies to showcase their culture, I was pretty sure China was going to attempt to label them as a minority Chinese group, from Taiwan. Their claim to being "Taiwanese" is even more so than me and a large majority of those in Taiwan who came to Taiwan either with the KMT or long before that. They are aboriginals of Taiwan, meaning they've been there forever. If there was ever a more formal definition of Taiwanese, that is the aboriginals.

“We are Taiwanese Aborigines, we are citizens of the Republic of China. We are Taiwanese, but we are not Chinese. And we are not Chinese minorities.”

On the eve of the opening ceremonies, China has already managed to "Chinese" the Taiwanese several times. Just a few, CCTV called Taiwan's team Zhongguo Taipei even after Ma declared "diplomatic victory" for getting China to call Taiwan Zhonghua Taipei- an already agreed upon name that is nothing to be victorious about. Then putting Taiwanese close to the Chinese territories (ok, not that bad of an offense), and now the Taiwanese Aborigines are now minority peoples from Taiwan-- implying Chinese minority peoples from Taiwan.

Boy am I glad that someone like the Communist China can tell me that I'm Chinese. Much more to come in the next 16 days!

Ma & Cabinet "Decide" on Zhonghua Taipei

For Ma and his cabinet to even have to convene a meeting to decide whether to allow China to change the official title for Taiwan (Chinese Taipei - Zhonghua Taipei) to Zhongguo Taipei is ridiculous. The name was decided and agreed upon by all parties in 1989 and although sad to say, is not Taiwan or China's place to decide whether or not to allow China to alter the name, just because China is hosting the Olympics this year. For all the "progress" that the KMT proclaims to have occurred cross-strait in setting aside these kinds of disputes, it seems that once again China says one thing and does the other.

"Stop politicizing Olympics," China.

Chinese People Say: "Stop Politicizing Olympics"

The reality says that China is the one that is politicizing the Olympics. This is all after the fact of ignoring that the Olympics have always been used as a vehicle for political agendas. The part that irks me the most whenever I hear Chinese people trying to impose that Taiwan is part of China, is that they hardly ever have an open mind. It is as if they were trained from a baby to recite lines from Hu's propaganda book- "Taiwan is and has always been a part of China, and will always be."

All they have to do is pick up a book or even do some quick googling to find out that Taiwan has never been part of China. Moreover, the current "China" (P.R.C.) has never ruled Taiwan or had any legitimate claim to it.

So when I saw Chinese-Americans protesting at our university a few months ago against the Dalai Lama and calling for "Western Media- Stop politicizing Olympics," I find it hard to believe they are actually college students. Isn't college where you come to learn and open your mind to new ideas? Rather, it seems some Chinese-Americans would rather read lines from a book and have a close-minded attitude towards the whole thing.

The AP is reporting that Taiwan officials have (thank God) rejected China's attempt to rename Taiwan's name in the Olympics from Zhonghua Taipei to Zhonghua Taipei. A pretty good short description from the article on the meanings:

"Zhongguo Taipei" means "Taipei China" and uses "Zhongguo," the name China calls itself, implying Taipei is a part of China. "Zhonghua Taipei" uses "Zhonghua" — a more ambiguous word that applies to a deliberately undefined Chinese nation.

So can the Chinese-Americans who protested for the western media to stop politicizing the Olympics, also do the same for China? It would only be reasonable so that there isn't a double standard going on, right?

In other news, after dipping briefly into the 6000 territory, the TAIEX has rebounded with probably one if it's best days since Ma became president. Perhaps this is the short term rally that has been rumored to be coming. We shall see, but don't get your hopes up on hitting 20,000 anytime soon. These are what we call a bear market rally, and the trend is still down. As I said in my previous blog, if a rally that may or may not come is able to take stocks back to their 50dma, that would be a good selling point to get out of your long positions.