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Team recognized as
ROC at athletics contest ¡X briefly
By Cho Chia-ping / Staff reporter, in COLOMBO, Sri Lanka
A purported error by the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) gave the
Taiwanese team competing at this year¡¦s Asian Junior Athletics Championships in
Colombo on opening day on Saturday a rare glimpse of the Republic of China (ROC)
national flag on their athletes¡¦ passes.
The championships, which run through tomorrow, are a series of athletics
competitions held biannually in Asia for athletes under the age of 20 and are
organized by the Asian Athletics Association.
The Taiwanese team were reportedly overjoyed to see the ROC flag flying over the
track grounds when they arrived and they were doubly surprised to see the ROC
flag on their passes, though the team also noticed that the hosts had
erroneously spelled ¡§Chinese Taipei¡¨ as ¡§Chinese Thaipei.¡¨
The team members and coaches took pictures of the unprecedented passes.
Coach Huang Chun-jung (¶À¬Kºa) said this was the first time he had been issued such
a pass since Taiwan were compelled to adopt ¡§Chinese Taipei¡¨ for future Olympic
Games following an agreement between the International Olympic Committee and the
Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1981.
The Lausanne agreement confirmed the committee¡¦s name, flag and symbol and
bestowed them powers on par with other national Olympic committees. However, any
Taiwanese team participating in international competitions can only use the
Chinese Taipei Olympic flag and the name ¡§Chinese Taipei¡¨ instead of the ROC
national flag and name.
The government commonly refers to the Lausanne agreement as the ¡§Olympic model.¡¨
The Taiwanese athletes¡¦ joy was short-lived, as the delegation from China
expectedly complained to the hosts that they had made what the Chinese claimed
was a mistake. The AASL took back the ROC passes and gave the Taiwanese athletes
new ones later on Saturday upon their return to their hotel after the day¡¦s
events concluded.
The AASL also replaced the ROC flags flying over the racetrack and on the arch
leading to the entrance of the grounds with the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag.
Commenting on the AASL¡¦s actions, team leader Ti Hsueh-tien (»C¾Ç¹q) said the
Taiwanese team would adhere to the ¡§Olympic model,¡¨ adding that ¡§the repeated
change of schedule infringes on athletes¡¦ rights and gives participants the
feeling that they are doing things rashly and without order.¡¨
Even after the ROC flag and name were changed at the Chinese delegation¡¦s
behest, the Taiwanese athletes were surprised to find that the AASL had arranged
their order of entry to the grounds during the opening ceremony under countries
starting with the letter ¡§C.¡¨
Under the 1981 agreement, the Chinese Taipei team order is classified under the
letter ¡§T¡¨ rather than ¡§C¡¨ in an attempt to differentiate Chinese Taipei from
China.
Despite the mix-ups, Taiwan¡¦s participation in the competitions have not been
affected. By the end of Saturday¡¦s events, the team had won one gold medal by
Liao Ching-hsien (¹ùÀR½å), who won the women¡¦s 100m dash in 11.97 seconds.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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