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2 Carrying the torch for cross-strait
politics By Ting-I Tsai
TAIPEI - Can the whole world share the
same dream? This is the mission China has been
trying to accomplish for the 2008 Summer Olympics
since it won the bid for hosting the Games. The
perfect-sounding theme, however, has hit a sour
note as the grand sports event appears to be
becoming increasingly politicized in regard to
relations across the Taiwan Strait.
On
April 26, Taipei rejected Beijing's proposal for
the Olympic torch relay on the grounds that it
attempted to "dwarf" the island
by
treating it as part of China. Taiwan insisted that
it is a sovereign country. Beijing, on the other
hand, slammed Taipei for breaching an earlier
agreement on the torch relay.
Then former
Taiwanese premier Su Tseng-chang threatened to
boycott the Olympics if Beijing kept referring to
Taiwan as "China Taipei" and not by its official
title "Chinese Taipei" in international athletic
events.
Taiwan is to hold its presidential
election next March. The ruling Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) is determined to take a
hardline stance playing up the sovereignty issue
to solicit support from pro-independence voters.
This further complicates the issue.
Last
Friday, some US Congress members introduced a
non-binding resolution urging the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Taiwan to take
part in the 2008 Games "under the national name,
flag and anthem of its own choosing". The measure
complains that the requirement - imposed at the
demand of China - that Taiwan compete under the
name "China Taipei" violates the spirit of the
Olympic movement and the rules imposed by the IOC.
But the sensitivity of the issue has led
the IOC to remain neutral and reiterate its stance
of not interfering in any negotiation between
Taipei and Beijing, said the chairman of the
Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, Tsai Chen-wei,
who returned from a visit to the IOC in Geneva
last week.
Now, trying to kick the ball
back to Beijing's court, Taiwan says it is willing
to renegotiate the possibility of the "China leg"
of the torch relay passing through Taipei to show
its good intentions and flexibility for a happy
ending, apparently in the hope of avoiding
possible blame on the island for boycotting the
relay, which would be the longest in Olympic
history - 137,000 kilometers.
In a recent
interview with Hong Kong media, Chen Ming-tong,
chairman of Taiwan's cabinet-level Mainland
Affairs Council (MAC), noted that Taipei is ready
to resume negotiations on the torch relay and
urged Beijing to submit a new proposal.
Chen Ming-tong made the remarks shortly
after Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian ordered
relevant government departments not to "dwarf"
Taiwan's sovereignty in any negotiation on the
Olympic torch's passing through the island.
Tung Chen-yuan, vice chairman of the MAC,
said the ball is in Beijing's court after Taipei's
olive branch. "We are still waiting for Beijing's
new plan," he said, "as they are already aware of
the mistake they made" on downgrading Taiwan's
status.
Beijing, meanwhile, has neither
publicized any of its alternative plans nor
submitted any of them to Taipei, aside from
further urging Taiwan to accept the original one.
This is despite the executive vice president of
the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic
Games, Jiang Xiaoyu, expressing the intention to
reopen negotiations with Taiwan in the upcoming
months.
Chinese academics visiting Taiwan,
meanwhile, have anxiously inquired about the
possibility of Taiwan boycotting the Beijing
Olympics.
With China purposely isolating
Taiwan in the international community, Taiwan has
been sensitive about how China treats it in any of
the international events hosted by the mainland.
To demonstrate its independent sovereignty, Taiwan
insists that its part in the torch's relay route
should be an international one and not just part
China's domestic route.
Beijing's earlier
announced route, which is supposed to reach Taiwan
from Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City and depart for
Hong Kong and Macau, in fact is a compromise that
partly meets Taiwan's demand while leaving room
for China to interpret it as a "domestic" route.
However, as Taiwan's presidential election
draws near, the ruling DPP administration has
decided not to tolerate the vagueness that
entitles Beijing to interpret the relay's arrival
in Taiwan as the torch's first stop in China. It
insists the torch must come into Taiwan via a
foreign city and also go out through another
foreign city. While Beijing leaves open the
opportunity for renegotiations, analysts say it is
unlikely to give in easily.
On the island,
public opinion is highly divided on whether
Taiwan's dignity or the chance for international
publicity is more important. Two polls conducted
by the MAC and the city of Taipei - which would be
an official host city of the torch under China's
relay proposal - showed two totally different
outcomes. The former showed more than 60% of
respondents supporting the DPP government's
decision to turn down Beijing's proposal, while
the
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