Taipei: Under pressure from China, Taipei was forced to compete with a ‘weird’ name at the Olympics, says US director

TAIPEI: China is “imposing its authoritarianism” on Taiwan, according to American filmmaker Garret Clarke, who made a documentary on why the self-ruled island nation cannot use its name to compete in major international sporting events.

Taiwan is forced to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics and other global sporting events under the name “Chinese Taipei” due to Beijing’s significant influence over the UN and the International Olympic Committee, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA).

To explore how the inhabitants of this autonomous island, which China claims as its own, feel, American director Garret Clarke decided to make a 20-minute documentary entitled “What’s in a Name? A Chinese Taipei Story.”

It traces the origins of the dispute that began with the Chinese Civil War, after which the Chinese Communist Party created the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949, while the government of the Republic of China (ROC) retreated to Taiwan.

The CNA report explains that in 1952 the IOC allowed both the People’s Republic of China and the International Olympic Committee to participate in the Helsinki Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee rejected this dual recognition and withdrew its team’s participation, allowing the People’s Republic of China to compete in the Olympics for the first time.

The People’s Republic of China boycotted the ROC flag at the Melbourne Olympics and stayed away from all Olympics during the 1960s and early 1970s, during which time the ROC competed under the names “Formosa” in 1960, “Taiwan” in 1964 and 1968, and “Republic of China” in 1972.

The United Nations recognized the People’s Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China in 1971.

In 1976, when the ROC delegation was asked to join the Olympic Games under the name “Taiwan” instead of “Republic of China”, it refused to change its name and withdrew from the games in Canada, which broke diplomatic relations with the ROC and established ties with the PRC in 1970.

Subsequently, in 1979, the IOC Executive Committee passed the “Nagoya Resolution”, which both the governments of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China eventually agreed to follow.

Meanwhile, director Clarke, who has lived part of his life in Taiwan, said that during the Paris Olympics, those who like him find the name “Chinese Taipei” “strange” can “Google it and find the video as the answer.”

Taiwan this week held its annual military exercises and conducted air raid drills to raise public awareness on how to respond to an attack from China and where to seek shelter.

This time, while the exercises were taking place, Taiwanese authorities released the trailer for a TV show titled “Zero Day,” which depicts a Chinese invasion. The Taipei government has partially funded the TV series.

The country’s Central News Agency described the trailer as a portrait of how the Taiwanese people react to an impending invasion by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) after a blockade. It also shows cyberattacks disrupting infrastructure and sabotage by Beijing’s collaborators in the prelude to war.

The series’ producer, Cheng Shin-mei, was quoted by local media as saying that the show hopes to “draw more global attention to the threats Taiwan faces from China.”

China has been engaged in grey zone activities in and around the Taiwan Strait to challenge the status quo. China has increased its military activities around Taiwan, including regular air and naval incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).

China continues to assert sovereignty over Taiwan, considering it part of its territory and insisting on eventual reunification, by force if necessary.

On July 27, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern over Beijing’s recent “provocative” actions toward Taiwan.

Blinken made the remarks after meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday on the sidelines of an annual Southeast Asia regional security forum in Vientiane, Laos.

Meanwhile, a US-based organisation has called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Taiwan to compete under its own name instead of “Chinese Taipei”, Taiwan News reported.

The Formosa Public Affairs Association (FAPA), a Washington DC-based nonprofit that seeks to build global support for Taiwanese independence, called the IOC on the opening day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.