Chinese Taipei
"Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China, a country commonly known as Taiwan.
Due to the one China principle stipulated by the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, being a non-UN member after its expulsion in 1971 with ongoing dispute of its sovereignty, was prohibited from using or displaying any of its national symbols that would represent the statehood of Taiwan, such as its national name, anthem and flag, at international events. The term "Chinese Taipei" was first proposed in 1979 and was eventually approved in the Nagoya Resolution, whereby both the ROC/Taiwan and the PRC/China obtained their right of participation and would remain as separate delegations in any activities of the International Olympic Committee and its associated organizations. This term came into official use in 1981 following a name change of the Republic of China Olympic Committee to the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. This arrangement later became a model for the ROC/Taiwan to continue participating in various international organizations and diplomatic affairs other than the Olympic Games, including the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the Metre Convention, APEC, and international pageants.
"Chinese Taipei" is a deliberately ambiguous term, designed to be equivocal about the political status of the ROC/Taiwan. The meaning of "Chinese" is also ambiguous, so that either party is able to interpret it as national identity or cultural sphere. The specific mention of "Taipei" signifies its capital city without explicitly defining the certain territorial boundary of the ROC. Since the IOC has ruled out the use of the name "Republic of China", the neologism was considered as an expedient resolution and a more inclusive term than just "Taiwan" to both the Kuomintang, the ruling party of the ROC at the time during the Nagoya Resolution, and the PRC. The PRC's persistent policy is to keep Taipei isolated on the world stage and disagrees with any use of "Taiwan" as an official title, in order to prevent Taiwan from gaining international recognition for "independent statehood" separate from the PRC. The term "Taiwan, China" or "Taipei, China" was rejected by the ROC government because it could be construed as Taiwan being a subordinate region to the PRC.
Popular opinion in Taiwan has changed drastically in regard to the cross-strait relations and the nationalistic discourses since the democratization of Taiwan and the end of one-party rule by the Kuomintang. "Chinese Taipei" has since been viewed by many Taiwanese as an anachronistic, aggravating, and humiliating term. The Taiwan Name Rectification Campaign sought to alter the formal name from "Chinese Taipei" to "Taiwan" for representation in Olympic Games and further potential international events. A nationwide referendum was held in 2018, in which a proposal for the name change was rejected. The main argument against such a move was the uncertain consequences of such a renaming; at worst, the renaming dispute could be used by China as an excuse to pressure the IOC to exclude Taiwan from participating in the Olympic Games completely and force its existing membership to be revoked. This was the case when Taiwan was stripped of the right to host the 2019 East Asian Youth Games amid its renaming issue with China during that year.
Origins
Two Chinas at the Olympics
In the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the People's Republic of China was established and the nationalist Republic of China government retreated to Taiwan, previously a Qing territory that was ceded to Japanese rule from 1895 until its surrender at the end of World War II in 1945. As time went on, the increased official recognition of the PRC in international activities, such as when accorded recognition in 1971 by the United Nations, instead of that accorded previously to the ROC saw existing diplomatic relations transfer from Taipei to Beijing. The ROC needed to come to a beneficial conclusion to how it would be referred when there was participation by the PRC in the same forum.The International Olympic Committee recognized both the PRC and the ROC Olympic Committees in 1954. In 1958, the PRC withdrew its membership from the IOC and nine other international sports organizations in protest against the two-Chinas policy. After the withdrawal of the PRC, the IOC had been using a number of names in international Olympic activities to differentiate the ROC from the PRC. "Formosa" was used at the 1960 Summer Olympics, and "Taiwan" was used in 1964 and 1968. In 1975, the PRC applied to rejoin the IOC as the sole sports organization representing the whole China. The Taiwanese team, competing under the name of Republic of China at the previous Olympics, was refused the right to represent itself as the "Republic of China" or use "China" in its name by the government of the host country, Canada, at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The IOC then voted to change the name of the ROC team to "Taiwan", which was rejected by the ROC, and the ROC announced their withdrawal from the 1976 Summer Olympics a day before the opening ceremony.
The top ROC leadership at the time asserted Chinese nationalism, contending both parts of divided China are Chinese territories and Taiwan did not represent all the regions of the ROC. What people refer to as Taiwan is one of several areas or islands and Taiwan alone did not reflect the "territorial extent" of the ROC. Furthermore, although it is true that most products from the area controlled by the ROC are labeled "made in Taiwan", the trade practices of the ROC are such that the regional area of production is used for labeling. Some wines from Kinmen are labeled "made in Kinmen", just as some perfume are labeled "made in Paris" and not "made in France". Therefore, the ROC government refused to accept the name of Taiwan during the period.
1979 IOC resolutions
Following the 1976 Montreal Olympics, IOC President Lord Killanin established a commission to examine the issue of "Two Chinas." Killanin aimed to reintegrate the PRC into the Olympic Movement, and the matter was designated as a principal topic of discussion at the 81st IOC Session, held in Montevideo in April 1979. At that session, the IOC officially recognized the Olympic Committee of the PRC while continuing to acknowledge the Olympic Committee based in Taipei. The resolution left problems relating to the names, anthems and flags of both committees unsolved. The PRC showed a willingness to allow Taiwan to be included in the IOC but objected to the resolution, reaffirming sports organizations in Taiwan must not use any of the emblems of the Republic of China. He Zhenliang, a representative of the PRC, stated in Montevideo:According to the Olympic Charter, only one Chinese Olympic Committee should be recognized. In consideration of the athletes in Taiwan having an opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games, the sports constitution in Taiwan could function as a local organization of China and still remain in the Olympic Movement in the name of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. However, its anthem, flag and constitutions should be changed correspondingly.
After the 81st Session, the IOC Executive Board designated the Olympic Committee in Beijing as the Chinese Olympic Committee, with the PRC's anthem, flag and emblem. The Olympic Committee in Taipei was designated as the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, with a different anthem, flag and emblem from those the ROC used and which must be approved by the executive board. Lord Killanin submitted the resolution to IOC members for a postal vote following the conclusion of the IOC Executive Board meeting held in October 1979 in Nagoya. The resolution, known as the Nagoya Resolution, was approved in November 1979 by the IOC members, and later other international sports federations adopted the resolution.
The Nagoya Resolution was welcomed by the PRC as the resolution followed the PRC's One China principle, whereas the ROC decided that the ROC Olympic Committee must strongly protest against the decisions. From November 1979, the ROC Olympic Committee and Taiwan's IOC member, Henry Hsu, filed a series of lawsuits in Lausanne against the IOC for annulment of the Nagoya Resolution. Taiwanese officials also boycotted the 1980 Winter and Summer Games in protest of not being allowed to use the ROC's official name, flag and national anthem.
1981 agreement
In 1980, the IOC amended the Olympic Charter so that all National Olympic Committees when participating in the Games could use delegation flags and anthems, instead of national ones. Juan Antonio Samaranch, the new president of the IOC, met Henry Hsu several times to discuss the ROC Olympic Committee's status in the IOC. In order for the youth to participate in the Olympic Games and counteract the PRC's strategy of isolating the ROC, the ROC government concluded that the ROC Olympic Committee should not withdraw from the IOC.In 1981, the ROC government formally accepted the name "Chinese Taipei". A flag bearing the emblem of its Olympic Committee against a white background as the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag was confirmed in January. Based on the Olympic Charter amended at the 82nd IOC Session, an agreement was signed on 23 March in Lausanne by Juan Antonio Samaranch, the president of the IOC, and Shen Chia-ming, the president of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. The 1981 agreement, also known as the Lausanne Agreement, specified the name, flag and emblem of the CTOC. The CTOC is therefore entitled to be treated on the equal footing as other NOCs. In 1983, the National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China was chosen as the anthem of the Chinese Taipei delegation, and Chinese Taipei has been listed under the "T" group in IOC protocol order. Taiwan has competed under this name and flag exclusively at each Games since the 1984 Winter Olympics, as well as at the Paralympics and at other international events.