Taipei - Taiwan on Thursday threatened to boycott the Beijing Olympics if China downgrades the island's status by calling it "China-Taipei" instead of "Chinese-Taipei" as defined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
"During the Beijing Olympics, if China-Taipei is used or appears at the Olympics venue, we will walk out the games," Tai Hsia-ling, director of the Sports Affairs Council, told a cabinet meeting.
"Since the Los Angeles Olympic Games, the Taiwan team has been using the name Chinese-Taipei at every Olympic Games. China must respect the IOC decision," she said.
Tai made the remark because in the run-up to the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese media has been referring to the Taiwan team as the China-Taipei team, not the IOC-approved Chinese-Taipei team.
Although the two names look similar to foreigners, it is very sensitive to Taiwan because China-Taipei means Taiwan is part of China, while Chinese-Taipei means Taiwan is part of the Chinese ethnic group.
Since Taiwan lost its United Nations seat to China in 1971 and was expelled from all UN-related organizations, the island state has been allowed to retain its seat in the IOC as Chinese-Taipei and to attend Olympic Games as Chinese-Taipei. (dpa)
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