IOC urged to allow name of 'Taiwan' in place of 'Chinese Taipei'

Washington, Aug. 9 (CNA) The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) and more than a dozen other overseas groups sent a letter Friday urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Taiwan's team to compete under the name "Taiwan" rather than "Chinese Taipei."

The letter was addressed to IOC President Thomas Bach and members of the IOC executive board and sent just two days before the conclusion of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, according to a FAPA press release.

"Taiwan is an independent, sovereign country, and this is a long-established 'status quo,'" FAPA President Kao Su-mei (林素梅) was quoted as saying in the statement, arguing that Taiwan's Olympic team was "fully entitled to compete proudly under the name 'Taiwan.'"

"The IOC, in blatant disregard for the principles of 'non-discrimination' and 'political neutrality' enshrined in the Olympic Charter, has forced Taiwan's team to use the derogatory name 'Chinese Taipei,' which undermines Taiwan's independent statehood and national dignity," she said.

The FAPA president criticized China as being behind the name issue, as it continues to bully Taiwan and exert political pressure on the IOC.

In the letter, the groups said the "unfair Taiwan-specific restrictions" have been extended to fans, citing incidents in which items with the word "Taiwan" were "unreasonably prohibited and forcefully snatched from Taiwanese supporters by Olympic staff members or Chinese spectators."

FAPA and other co-signatory organizations "strongly condemn these violent acts," it said.

Those actions "not only violated the Olympic spirit and principles set forth in the Olympic Charter" but also infringed on the "freedom of speech" of Taiwanese spectators at the Olympics to express support for the athletes from their country, 'Taiwan,'" the letter said.

Meanwhile, they called on IOC President Bach and the full executive board "not to succumb to China's political pressure" and immediately stop its "discriminatory requirement" for athletes from Taiwan to compete under the fictitious name "Chinese Taipei."

The name Chinese Taipei "falsely implies that Taiwan is part of China [PRC], even though Taiwan has never been ruled by the PRC for a single day," they wrote.

The name Chinese Taipei, finalized in the Lausanne Agreement in March 1981 between the IOC and the Republic of China (Taiwan) Olympic Committee, enabled athletes from Taiwan to compete in the Olympics after it missed the games in 1976 over the name issue.

Taiwan's athletes returned to the Olympics in 1984 and have been competing under the Chinese Taipei name ever since.

Friday's letter was led by the Washington-based FAPA and co-signed by 23 overseas Taiwanese organizations from around the world, including the Asociación de Taiwán en Argentina, the All Japan Taiwanese Union, the Taiwan Association in Sweden, and the Taiwanese American Citizens League.