China meddles as 28 to go to Gay Games as ‘Taiwan’

Anything and everything about gay life anywhere in the world, especially Asia, other than Thailand.
Post Reply
ก้นconnoisseur

China meddles as 28 to go to Gay Games as ‘Taiwan’

Post by ก้นconnoisseur »

China meddles as 28 to go to Gay Games as ‘Taiwan’
By Ann Maxon / Staff reporter
Tue, Jul 24, 2018

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/a ... 2003697262

Twenty-eight Taiwanese plan to compete in the Gay Games in Paris next month under the name of Taiwan for the first time, but they are still NT$2 million (US$65,264) short of their fundraising goal, the Taiwan Gay Sports and Taiwan Gay Development Movement Association said yesterday.

The team was honored to be invited by the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) to take part in this year’s Games, where more than 10,000 athletes from more than 90 nations are to compete in more than 500 events, veteran gay rights advocate Chi Chia-wei (祁家威) told a news conference in Taipei.

Chi, who is to lead the team, said that while several Taiwanese had participated in the Games in the past, this was the first time the FGG had formally invited the nation to compete under the name of Taiwan.

“This could be the only chance for us to compete as Taiwan because the next Gay Games will be held in Hong Kong,” he added.

However, association president Yang Chih-chun (楊智鈞) said the FGG appears to be coming under pressure from the French government over displays of Taiwan’s national flag during the Games.

He said the association was notified by the FGG last week that the French government had “expressed concerns” over displaying the flag.

“Our logical conclusion is that China protested to the French government, or otherwise this would not have happened,” Yang told Agence France-Presse.

The association is also negotiating with FGG over its listing as “Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)” on the Paris games Web site rather than just “Taiwan” — the name it used when filling out the registration form.

“We hope the FGG can resist pressure,” Yang said.

“We will fight till the last moment to use our national flag at the Gay Games,” Chi said.

However, funding remains the most pressing concern.

The association was founded in May to prepare for Taiwan’s participation in the Games, and while it aims to raise NT$3 million to send a team to Paris, it has raised less than NT$1 million, Chi said.

The team’s slogan, “Taiwan comes out,” is significant on both a personal and a national level, swimmer Yu Kun-i (游坤義) said.

LGBT people and Taiwan have to fight for acceptance for what they are, Yu said.

“By making that connection, we also hope to make the experience of the LGBT community more relatable to the public,” he said.

However, while the idea of representing “Taiwan” has received widespread support from athletes across the nation, the value of gender diversity that the Games aim to celebrate has not, he said.

“The Games welcome athletes who support the value of diversity and equality to participate regardless of their gender and sexual orientation, but most of the athletes who joined are those who have come out of the closet. This shows that heterosexual athletes who support the cause also face great stress and stigmatization,” he said.

Promoting the name of Taiwan and marriage equality are goals that the New Power Party has been fighting to realize, party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said.

The party would do everything it can to support the team and he hopes the Sports Administration and more businesses would be willing to fund the athletes, he added.

The Gay Games began as the Gay Olympics in San Francisco, California, in 1982. Like the Olympic Games, they are held every four years.

Taiwanese athletes will be competing in swimming, running, table tennis, tennis and inline speed skating in Paris. They are scheduled to leave for France on Thursday next week.

The Gay Games open on Saturday next week and close on Aug. 12.
fountainhall

Re: China meddles as 28 to go to Gay Games as ‘Taiwan’

Post by fountainhall »

For the last 38 years Taiwan athletes have participated in all international sporting events - as far as I am aware without exception - under the banner “Chinese Taipei”. Despite my intense admiration for Taiwan and the people of Taiwan, I fail to understand why the gay athletes should now seek to change established practice. I can’t see that this is in any way Chinese meddling!
ก้นconnoisseur

Re: China meddles as 28 to go to Gay Games as ‘Taiwan’

Post by ก้นconnoisseur »

Gay Games team renamed ‘Taipei’

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/a ... 2003697448

ON THE FENCE::The FGG has redesignated Taiwan several times and explained its rules on displaying flags, saying that athletes would not be banned from showing their pride
By Ann Maxon / Staff reporter
Fri, Jul 27, 2018 - Page 1

Taiwanese athletes might not be able to compete at this year’s Gay Games in Paris under the name “Taiwan” after the French delegation of the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) unexpectedly changed the team’s name from “Taiwan” to “Taipei,” the Taiwan Gay Sports and Taiwan Gay Development Movement Association said yesterday, adding that it would continue to negotiate with the organizers to rename the team.

Although China has not openly commented on Taiwan’s participation in the Games, it has been widely speculated that the French government instructed the FGG to change Taiwan’s designation on its Web site due to pressure from Beijing.

On Tuesday, Beijing successfully lobbied the East Asian Olympic Committee to revoke Taichung’s right to host the first East Asian Youth Games in August next year as punishment for a grassroots campaign promoting a referendum proposal to rename Taiwan’s national sports team from “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan” for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

FGG officials had agreed to allow the athletes to compete as “Taiwan” and display the nation’s flag when they invited Taiwanese to participate in the event in February last year, association president Yang Chih-chun (楊智群) told the Taipei Times.

However, an hour after the team held a news conference on Monday to announce their plan to participate in the Gay Games, he discovered the team’s name had been changed from “Taiwan, ROC” to “Taiwan (Chinese Taipei),” he said.

The designation was changed to “Chinese Taipei” that evening and then to “Taipei” on Wednesday, he added.

“We have established a task force to handle the issue. At the moment, nothing is set in stone,” Yang said.

Negotiations would continue with the organizers, he said, adding that there is a meeting scheduled for two hours before the nine-day event begins on Saturday next week.

“We are sad about China’s intervention and France’s decision to compromise, but we will follow the rules of the Games,” Yang said.

The team would not withdraw from the Games and would participate in the spirit of celebrating LGBT rights, he said.

Meanwhile, the FGG has appeared to be struggling to please both sides.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, it explained its rules for displaying national flags or renditions of national anthems, saying: “No flags are provided to participants in any events and no national hymns are played during regular events; the exception being host country national anthems at the opening ceremony.”

However, individuals are not banned in any way from showing their individual, team, local and regional pride throughout the Games, the statement said.

The FGG’s decision to unilaterally change the team’s name has sparked widespread criticism in Taiwan, with many questioning whether it has undermined the very values it was founded to safeguard.

“The FGG should not become a spokesperson for the oppressor, as that contradicts the spirit of equality and human rights it aims to celebrate,” New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday.

The NPP plans to continue to promote a referendum proposal to rename the national sports team and make the name “Taiwan” more widely known to the international community, he said.

“I will still attend the Games, but I will be bringing two flags with me: a whale flag [representing Taiwan] and a flag of Taiwan in rainbow colors. I hope to show these flags at the Games to bring attention to Taiwan,” said swimmer Jason Tan (唐聖捷), an NPP member who is to compete at the Games.

Published on Taipei Times :
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/a ... 2003697448
Copyright © 1999-2018 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.
Jun

Re: China meddles as 28 to go to Gay Games as ‘Taiwan’

Post by Jun »

fountainhall wrote:For the last 38 years Taiwan athletes have participated in all international sporting events - as far as I am aware without exception - under the banner “Chinese Taipei”. Despite my intense admiration for Taiwan and the people of Taiwan, I fail to understand why the gay athletes should now seek to change established practice. I can’t see that this is in any way Chinese meddling!
Taiwan should decide what flag it flies. By way of comparison, could you imagine the fuss if the Chinese claimed some US territory & pressured them to remove one star from the US flag, or something equally silly ?

The French should stand up for the freedom of countries to make their own decisions.

As for the leaders in Beijing, perhaps they might concentrate on giving China a government & a government selection system that's so good, Taiwan actually wants to join in.
fountainhall

Re: China meddles as 28 to go to Gay Games as ‘Taiwan’

Post by fountainhall »

It's far too easy to say that Taiwan should go its own way - or something similar. Whether we like it or not - and probably most do not - Taiwan is not a separate country. It is Chinese territory. For 211 years from 1683 it was ruled by the Qing Dynasty in China. After losing the Sino-Japanese war, it was ceded to Japan. At the Cairo Conference in 1943 during World War 2 attended by Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek, it had been unanimously agreed that following the end of the war and the defeat of Japan, all Japanese possessions stolen from China would be returned to China. Stalin later added his agreement.

Despite Chiang's agreement, he quickly changed his tune when defeated by Mao and forced to flee along with about 2 million of his army to Taiwan. WE have to realise that at no time did Chiang ever consider Taiwan as a separate entity from mainland China. Indeed, his sole aim was to regroup until ready to return to the mainland and fight Mao's forces again to retake Beijing.

Specifically as a result of the strong post-war anti-communist sentiment in the USA and other western countries, Taiwan was eventually granted nation status by the United Nations. But that was almost exclusively a result of American insistence and could never hold up in international law. When the USA formally recognised Mao's China, it and almost all other nations upheld the One China policy. Taiwan was formally recognised again as part of China.

The fact is that those who argue that Taiwan is a separate country need to ask themselves this: on what basis in law can it be regarded as not part of China? China had a reasonably large population on the island before the Dutch arrived in 1623. Is it Dutch? Perhaps it should be Spanish since they had ejected the Dutch in 1645. But they only lasted a few decades before the Qing Dynasty threw them out.

If anyone has a true claim to Taiwan it is surely the aboriginal Taiwan peoples. But they make up less than 3% of the population. And if you believe they should be the rightful rulers, then how does your argument stack up against the rights of the native Americans, the native aboriginal Australians and all other native peoples who were slaughtered as foreign powers took over their lands and now assume they have inalienable rights to the countries today? It doesn't.
Jun wrote:Taiwan should decide what flag it flies. By way of comparison, could you imagine the fuss if the Chinese claimed some US territory & pressured them to remove one star from the US flag, or something equally silly ?
I regret that is not a reasonable analogy by any means. Much more pertinent would be if Hawaii suddenly decided it wanted independence from the USA with its own constitution and the right to fly its own flag.
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: China meddles as 28 to go to Gay Games as ‘Taiwan’

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote:Much more pertinent would be if Hawaii suddenly decided it wanted independence from the USA with its own constitution and the right to fly its own flag.
If Alabama ever wants to do that - no objection. Who would even notice . . . ?

Remember when Key West, Florida declared itself the "Conch Republic"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch_Republic

The USA is currently presided over by a certain someone who would be unlikely to object to changing the name of the country to the "Trump Republic," although the term 'republic' would probably then be a misnomer . . .
Post Reply