If they are allowed to have their way, it is possible and even highly likely that our athletes could end up left out of the 2008 Olympic Games slated to take place in Beijing.

We support the principle of avoiding activities that diminish the status of our government and bolster Beijing’s illegitimate claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. However, we strongly disagree with the way that President Chen Shui-bian and Premier Su Tseng-chang have distorted the Olympic torch relay route issue and turned it into an international controversy.

Hardly moments after the international route of the torch relay was revealed by mainland Chinese authorities and the International Olympic Committee, officials here rushed to pour cold water on the plan and declare it unacceptable.

Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Chen Ming-tong told reporters that the plan to carry the Olympic torch from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam through Taipei on its way to Hong Kong was “the worst possible” choice of routes.

President Chen soon followed up by claiming that “everyone agreed” that the Olympic torch had to be brought in from a foreign country and taken out through another foreign country in order for the people of Taiwan not to be offended.

And according to Premier Su, Taiwan “definitely cannot” send its athletes to take part in an Olympic Games where Taiwan is “diminished and insulted.”

If President Chen and his supporters did not want the Olympic torch to pass through Taiwan on its way to mainland China, we would have preferred to hear them simply say so.

But warning the international community that Taiwan’s athletes might not participate in the Olympic Games is a foolish and even dangerous proposition that could end up causing tremendous harm to us.

Our athletes will surely be disappointed if the political sparring over the Olympic torch route ends up preventing them from taking part in a world-class competition held only once every four years.

But even more importantly, being left out of the Olympic Games in 2008 would set a precedent that Beijing would demand be followed in all Olympic events in the future.

Before the objections to relaying the torch from Taipei to Hong Kong were raised in recent days, we were under the impression that the Vietnam-Taiwan-Hong Kong route was the result of a compromise negotiated between our Chinese-Taipei Olympic Committee and its counterpart in Beijing.

According to international news media reports, having the flame brought in from a foreign country and out to Hong Kong, a part of the People’s Republic of China, effectively struck a middle ground between our initial demand that we form part of the international leg and Beijing’s demand that we form part of the relay between Chinese cities and regions.

The belief that such a compromise was actually reached has been strongly reinforced by documents shown to the press by Jiang --iaoyu, an official with the organizing committee for the 2008 Games. According to the documents displayed by Jiang, Chinese-Taipei Olympic Committee Chairman Tsai Chen-wei signed a memorandum with his mainland Chinese counterparts agreeing to this very route in February of this year.

This is a very embarrassing incident and we find it hard to believe the distorted explanations being given by Tsai and others for the obvious discrepancy.

The torch relay has now been so highly politicized that even if we were to agree to let it come, runners could be overwhelmed by obnoxious protesters attempting to disrupt the event and put out the flame. And now that it appears the Olympic flame will skip us entirely, the prospect of our “boycotting” the 2008 Games over the torch relay issue will evoke little sympathy for Taiwan in the international community.

If our government had given any serious thought to this issue in advance, it would have been wise to politely and quietly decline the torch relay while continuing to take part in the games.

By striking a deal and then reneging on it for reasons of political expediency, officials are risking getting our athletes getting kicked out of a major international sporting event.

Ironically, the Olympic Games are supposed to symbolize the principle of setting aside political disputes in the spirit of fostering cooperation and competition in the field of sport.

The torch relay is merely a minor part of pomp and ceremony leading the start of competition, and it is foolhardy to make such a high-profile stand over it instead of just opting out.

By excessively politicizing this issue, our government will cause serious harm to the development of sports in Taiwan and make a mockery of our reputation in the international community.