A sign of goodwill from Beijing

The issue has become highly-charged recently as Taiwan is set to attend the Beijing Olympics, which are barely two weeks away. In the run-up to the Games’ opening, China’s media, including the official Xinhua News Agency, the China News Service and CCTV, have been referring to Taiwan as “Zhongguo Taipei,” or “Taipei, China,” in English, in the same way Hong Kong is called “Hong Kong, China.” The inference is too obvious to be accepted by Taiwan, which doesn’t want to be seen as a local government of China.

Perhaps a little bit of history is helpful. Since 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists withdrew to Taiwan after losing the mainland to Mao Zedong’s communists, the question of Chinese representation at the Olympics has been a thorny issue for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Mainland China quit the IOC in the 1950s in protest against Taiwan’s participation. The IOC had not been able to find a way to let both the Republic of China on Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China take part in the Olympics until 1979, when the IOC met in Nagoya and decided to “restore” the PRC’s rights in the IOC, and at the same time to let the ROC take part under the name Chinese Taipei. In 1984, both sides participated in the Los Angeles Games for the first time.

But here is the catch. When Taiwan reluctantly accepted the short-changed arrangement, mainland China translated “Chinese Taipei” into “Taipei, China” — Zhongguo Taipei in Chinese, which was correct verbatim. Taiwan, on the other hand, has insisted on a slightly different appellation — Zhonghua Taipei. Are Zhonghua and Zhongguo different? The answer is yes and no. The ROC is Zhonghua Minguo; the PRC is Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo. Both called themselves Zhonghua. Both called themselves Zhongguo, too.

The difference lies largely in symbolism. The dispute had persisted until 1989, when sports officials of both sides met in Hong Kong and agreed that the “Chinese name” concerning Taiwan’s sports teams and organizations shall be referred to as Zhonghua Taipei in all of mainland China’s documents, pamphlets, letters, name plates, broadcasts, and so forth.

This week, spokesmen Li Weiyi and Yang Yi of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office held a press conference in Beijing to promise that Beijing will abide by the “Hong Kong Agreement” regarding Taiwan’s name for participation in the Olympics. Li and Yang added that the 1989 agreement applies to all Olympic venues and premises. The promise should be a relief for Taiwan because the opening and closing ceremonies will see the name Zhonghua Taipei being displayed, not Zhongguo Taipei which Taiwan’s people would hate to see. Assurances notwithstanding, there is no guarantee for a smooth sailing. The mainland’s media are outside the Olympic venues and premises, and they may still prefer to call Taiwan Zhongguo Taipei as they have been “accustomed to.” Beijing should try to persuade them to honor the Hong Kong agreement for the sake of fostering cross-strait rapprochement.

It is encouraging to see Beijing’s goodwill offered at a critical moment. This newspaper appealed to Beijing last week to “build mutual trust” by resolving this politically-charged issue with wisdom and goodwill. Beijing’s assurances, we believe, will be well-received and be seen as an important step to build trust. In the meantime, we hope that Beijing will make an extra effort to rein in the media and let them follow Beijing’s lead.

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