Name change bid may land Taiwan in trouble
Officials worried referendum outcome might cost Olympic recognition
>> TAIPEI: Taiwan will continue to use the name “Chinese Taipei” for its sports teams participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and other events even if today’s referendum seeking to change the name to “Taiwan” passes, sports authorities say.
Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee secretary-general Shen Yi-ting told Kyodo News that her committee had asked the government of President Tsai Ing-wen how it will respond if the referendum passes today.
“They said we will still use the name ‘Chinese Taipei’,” Shen said. “However, the referendum is legally binding, so I don’t really know what will happen in the end.”
Even if the referendum fails, Shen suggested that Taiwan still risks being punished by the International Olympic Committee, which has made it clear that Taiwan might be exposed to the protective measures set out in Rule 27.9 of the Olympic Charter.
The rule allows the IOC’s executive board to “take any appropriate decisions for the protection of the Olympic Movement in the country of an NOC [National Olympic Committee], including suspension of or withdrawal of recognition from such NOC” if any act by a government causes the activity of the NOC or the expression of its will to be hampered.
The committee resolved in May that it would stand by a 1981 agreement that Taiwanese athletes must compete as “Chinese Taipei”, an arrangement designed to overcome China’s objections to any international recognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
It said in a letter last week that while it respects freedom of expression, “any attempts to exercise undue pressure on the CTOC to breach the 1981 agreement and/or to act against the decision of the IOC Executive Board would be considered as external interference.”
Such interference, it added, “might expose the CTOC to the protective measures set out in the Olympic Charter in these circumstances (Rule 27.9 in particular).”
Successful or not, Shen said, “If we ask to have our name changed, we will definitely lose our recognition.”
Saying athletes are valuable assets, Shen urged the initiators of the referendum to respect their right to participate in future sports events.
“Sports events are not laboratories where they can use athletes as the laboratory mouse to test their political ideals,” Shen said.
Many athletes also side with the CTOC.
A group of well-known athletes held a press conference in Taipei on Wednesday urging voters to vote “no” today.
Badminton player Chou Tien-chen said those who say the referendum will not affect the right of athletes to compete are “like a dentist telling a patient it would not hurt to have a tooth pulled because it is not his own tooth.”
The referendum, one of 10 to be held today, was initiated by a coalition of pro-independence civic groups.
The chief initiator of the campaign is Olympic medallist Chi Cheng, who previously took part in three Olympic games.
“I hope our athletes can compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the name ‘Taiwan’ rather than ‘Chinese Taipei’ as is the case now,” she said.
Chen Yung-hsing, another campaigner, said if the CTOC asks the IOC to change its name, Taiwan will not lose its Olympic recognition and athletes can still compete in Olympics in the capacity of independents or refugees.
One campaigner said substantially more votes than the 4.95 million needed for adoption are being targeted in order to bring greater attention and urgency to the cause.