Chinese Taipei

Chinese Taipei
Chinese Taipei's Olympic Flag
Traditional Chinese	中華臺北
Simplified Chinese	中华台北
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghuá Táiběi Tongyong Pinyin Jhōnghuá Táiběi

Chinese Taipei is a name under which the Republic of China (ROC) (also commonly known as Taiwan) participates in the Olympics, but not other international organizations.

The international community commonly employs the term "Chinese Taipei" due to several considerations arising out of the complexities of the political status of Taiwan and cross-strait relations. First, the PRC objects to the use of the ROC's official title because that would imply the illegitimacy of its territorial claims. Secondly, avoiding the use of the official titles of the ROC and the PRC in the same context also avoids the implication that the ROC and the People's Republic of China (PRC) govern two different countries. Both governments officially claim to be the sole legitimate government of all China, including Taiwan, although in recent years the ROC's position has become more ambiguous. Consequently, the usage of "Chinese Taipei" today is often seen as a diplomatic concession to the PRC.

Origins

The end of active hostilities in the Chinese Civil War left two regimes controlling disproportionate territories. The People's Republic of China, established in 1949, controlled most of mainland China. The Republic of China, established in 1912, had retreated to recently acquired Taiwan and maintained control of nearby islands and a number of islands on the coast of mainland China. Both regimes vied for international recognition as the sole legitimate government of China. In the 1950s through to the mid 1970s, the Republic of China was recognised as the government of China by most countries of the NATO bloc and most international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations. By contrast, the People's Republic of China was recognised as the government of China by most Soviet bloc countries, members of the non-aligned movement, and a very few Western governments.

However, after the 1972 normalization of relations agreed between Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong, Western governments increasingly came to accept the PRC's legitimacy and to extend it diplomatic recognition. The China seat in some international organizations came to be occupied by People's Republic of China diplomats in place of their Republic of China counterparts. But in others, the ROC continued to have representation even after accession by the PRC. In these, the ROC's designation going forward arose as a fraught diplomatic issue.

The Republic of China under the Kuomintang (KMT) rejected designation as "Taiwan, China" on grounds that this would imply subordination to the People's Republic of China. It also refused the names "Taiwan" and "Formosa (simplified Chinese: 福尔摩沙; traditional Chinese: 福爾摩沙)" as a means of reasserting both its claim as the sole legitimate government of all of China, and its uncompromising rejection of Taiwan independence. Instead, deriving from the name of its capital city, it proposed Chinese Taipei, a term it regarded as both acceptably neutral and hopeful of assent from other interested parties. Its proposal found agreement.

In November 1979, the International Olympic Committee, and later all other international sports federations, adopted a resolution under which the National Olympic Committee of Taiwan would be recognized as the National Olympic Committee of Chinese Taipei, and its athletes would compete under the name Chinese Taipei and a flag bearing the emblem of its Olympic Committee against a white background as the Chinese Taipei Olympic Flag. It has competed under this flag exclusively at each Games since the 1984 Summer Olympics, as well as at Paralympics and at other international events.

The Chinese Taipei Olympic Flag is not used exclusively in unofficial media, however. Exceptions include CBS's association of the Chinese Taipei Olympic country code "TPE" with the flag of the Republic of China at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, and the use of animated image of a waving National Flag of the ROC (Taiwan) on the Australian Baseball Federation Web site during the 2004 Summer Olympics.

During the presidency of Chen Shui-bian (2000-2008), the ROC government, responding to rising pro-independence sentiments, expressed willingness to use the name "Taiwan" which had been earlier rejected by the ruling Kuomintang. This approach has not been acceptable to the PRC.

Translation compromise

Both sides agree to use the English name "Chinese Taipei". This is possible because of the ambiguity of the English word "Chinese". In 1979, the International Olympic Committee passed a resolution in Nagoya, Japan, restoring the rights of the Chinese Olympic Committee within the IOC, meanwhile renaming the Taipei-based Olympic Committee "Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee". Since then, and until 1989 the PRC translated "Chinese Taipei" as "Zhongguo Taipei" (simplified chinese: 中国台北, traditional chinese: 中國臺北, hanyu pinyin: Zhōngguó Táiběi), connoting that Taipei is a part of the Chinese state. By contrast, the Republic of China government translated it as "Jhonghua Taipei" (traditional chinese: 中華台北 or 中華臺北, Tongyong pinyin: Jhōnghuá Táiběi) in Chinese, which references the term "China" as the cultural or ethnic entity, rather than the state. In 1981 the Republic of China (Taiwan) Olympic organization confirmed its acceptance of the Nagoya resolution, but translated "Chinese Taipei" to "Zhonghua Taipei". In 1989, the two Olympic committees signed a pact in Hong Kong, clearly defining the use of "Zhonghua Taipei" . The mainland side had been observing the Hong Kong pact and using "Zhonghua Taipei" in stipulated areas ever since, but on other occasions, the version of "Zhongguo Taipei" was still in use following past practice, especially in official media references . In the Olympic Games opening ceremony, when each country's team normally proceeds in alphabetical order in English, the Chinese Taipei (TPE) team does not follow China (PRC), but instead takes a place in the procession as if its name were Taiwan, following countries such as Switzerland and Syria instead. In Beijing 2008 it followed Japan and preceded the Central African Republic . This ordering was based on the stroke number and order of each team's name in simplified Chinese, the official script in the People's Republic of China.

Consequences

The name "Chinese Taipei" has spilled into apolitical arenas. The PRC has successfully pressured some religious organizations and organizations such as the Lions Club to have Taiwan referred to as to "Chinese Taipei".

In 1998, the government of the People's Republic of China pressured the Miss World Organization to rename Miss Republic of China 1998 to "Miss Chinese Taipei", it has been competing ever since under that designation. The same happened in 2000, but with the Miss Universe Organization. Three years later at the Miss Universe pageant in Panama, the first official Miss China and Miss Taiwan competed alongside each other for the first time in history, prompting the Chinese government to again demand that Miss Taiwan assume the title "Miss Chinese Taipei". The contestant in question, Chen Szu-yu, was famously photographed tearfully holding her two sashes. Today, neither Miss Universe nor Miss World, the two largest pageant systems in the world, allow Taiwan's entrants to compete under the Taiwan label. In 2005, the third largest pageant system, Miss Earth, initially allowed beauty contestant Li Fan Lin to compete as "Miss Taiwan"; after a week into the pageant, however, her sash was updated to "Taiwan ROC". There was no subsequent backlash or government disapproval from the PRC over this move.

Chinese Taipei Paralympic Flag

The title "Chinese Taipei" leads some people to believe that "Taipei" is a country. To reduce confusion, news agencies remove "Chinese Taipei" references from press releases of international organizations and simply refer to the ROC as "Taiwan". For sporting events, the Taiwanese team is abbreviated in Taiwan as the Zhonghua Team (中華隊; Zhonghua being a more cultural rather than political variation of the term China), which, in effect, labels it the "Chinese Team".

Starting around the time of the 2004 Summer Olympics, there has been a movement in Taiwan to change all media references to the team to the "Taiwanese Team", and the mainstream Taiwan Television (TTV) is one of the first Taiwanese media outlets to do so. Such usage remains relatively rare, however, and other cable TV channels currently refer to the ROC as the Zhonghua Team and the PRC as the Zhongguo Team.

In the International Children's Games 2005 in Coventry, as well as the National Geographic World Championship, the name Chinese Taipei was used. Chinese Taipei was also the term being used by Major League Baseball for the ROC (Taiwan) team that participated in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, which it will presumably continue to do in the future.

Separate customs territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu

The World Trade Organization uses this name for the ROC, but "Chinese Taipei" is used unofficially since the official designation is too unwieldy. There is not any reference to what it is separated from (ie, the People's Republic of China). Its traditional chinese version is 臺澎金馬個別關稅領域, while the simplified chinese one is 台澎金马个别关税领域. Hanyu pinyin romanization is: Táipéng Jīn Mǎ Gèbié Guānshuì Lǐngyù. It is a politically neutral name.

Other references to Taiwan and the ROC

References used in the international context to refer to the Republic of China or Taiwan differ according to the type of the organisation.

International organisations that only admit sovereign states generally do not recognise the Republic of China or allow its membership. Thus, for example, whenever the United Nations makes reference to Taiwan, it uses the designation "Taiwan, Province of China". Certain web-based postal address programs also label the country designation name for Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China". Inter-governmental organisations use a variety of terms to designate ROC. Some non-governmental organisations which the PRC does not participate in continue to use "China" or the "Republic of China". The World Organization of the Scout Movement is one of few international organizations that continue to refer to the Republic of China as "China", and the ROC affiliate as the Scouts of China. This is because such Scouting organizations do not exist on the mainland People's Republic of China.

Countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, especially the ROC 's older diplomatic affiliates, also refer to the ROC as "China" on occasion; for example, during the funeral of Pope John Paul II, the President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian was seated as part of the French alphabetical seating arrangement between Marisa Letícia, the first lady of Brazil, and the president of Cameroon as the head of state of "Chine."

See also

• History of the Republic of China
• Flag of the Republic of China
• Chinese Taipei national basketball team
• Chinese Taipei national baseball team
• Chinese Taipei flag
• Chinese Taipei national football team
• Chinese Taipei national ice hockey team
• Political status of Taiwan
• Foreign relations of the Republic of China
• Four-stage Theory of the Republic of China
• Sport in Taiwan
• National Banner Song
• Taiwan Province
• Kuomintang

External links

• Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee Official Website
• Type "TPE" in the following flight schedule websites to see references to "Taipei, Chinese Taipei":
  • San Francisco International Airport Flight Schedule
  • Los Angeles International Airport Flight Schedule

• Articles regarding the United Nations' reference to Taiwan
  • Taipei Times Article on the UN Secretary General's Reaction to the 9-21 Earthquake in Taiwan
  • UN General Assembly Expressed Sympathy to the Government and People of China for the Earthquake in the Province of Taiwan

• Information About Japan Asia Airways, a subsidiary of Japan Airlines created not to offend Beijing
  • Japan Asia Airways (Official Site in Japanese)
  • English Background Information
• Swiss Residency Permits Refer the Nationality of ROC Citizens as "Chinese Taipei"