Flags and Sovereignty
Sometimes there are things that just bug you. (Well maybe not you so much, but at least me) Normally I'm not the kind of guy who's really big on nationalism, or up to a certain extent even patriotism isn't something that I think is important or even a big deal. Of course, this quirk(?) of mine probably arose out of the uber-nationalism masqueraded as patriotism that kidnapped America after 9/11. For example, in my humble opinion a constitutional amendment against flag burning is a ridiculous waste of time. But that creates a problem for me.
The awkward thing is that I think Taiwanese patriotism is important, while I think American patriotism tends to have... generally negative consequences. Perhaps it's because I feel that the people of Taiwan have a confused sense of national identity, and tend not to turn love of country into hate of others.
Just a while back the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) media in Taiwan criticized President Chen over the government's refusal to allow the Olympic torch relay to set foot in the country. There seems to be this mentality that Taiwan should just accept whatever China does to it on the international stage of diplomacy, and at this point we should be thankful that China even allows Taiwan to participate at all. Being unable to display your own country's flag and being referred to as Taipei, China or "Chinese Taipei" is indeed somewhat unsettling even for a person who dislikes nationalism. Maybe not. It could be that it's just me...
Now I would have less of a problem with the KMT taking the stance that boycotts are unreasonable and self-defeating, if they didn't do the same thing themselves. As an example, Chinese Natioanlist Party presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou vowed to defend the rights of audiences at sports games to carry national flags, and that the Taiwanese government with him as president would cancel any games where Chinese teams refused to cooperate. (Note important history here: Chinese teams have indeed forcibly removed Taiwanese flags from stages and ceremonies)
Now, there's an important distinction to be made between the government doing something, and civilians doing something. In this scenario, "something" refers to displaying the national flag. Previously China succeeded in getting the International Olympic Committee to ban Taiwan from attending the Olympics, until Taiwan signed an agreement promising not to display its national flag or play its national anthem during the Games. The rule held for other international games as well - not just the Olympics.
At this point there are two different ways to interpret the agreement. From my anecdotal experience, Taiwanese tend to accept an interpretation that bans official displays of Taiwanese flags. If a Taiwanese athlete should win a Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the flag cannot be displayed on the podium, nor can the national anthem be played. It's certainly not a desirable situation particularly if you believe that Taiwan is a sovereign nation, but people accept it for the same reason that most Taiwanese favor the status quo while China holds a military advantage.
However, judging from the multiple incidents I have learned about via international news, the Chinese seem to interpret the agreement a bit more broadly. No Taiwan flags. This includes those brought by spectators.
The problem is that Ma himself is responsible for a lot of kow-towing to China, as was indicated in the above link. Perhaps it could be explained that Ma has a change of heart and has decided not to reflexively side with Beijing against Taiwan like the KMT generally does. On the other hand I personally believe a explanation which *might* be more biased - Presidential elections are coming up, and he wants votes from people who consider themselves Taiwanese, not Chinese. (note that roughly 70% of the population supports Taiwan's bid for an official spot in the UN)
Don't elections always bring out the best in people?
The awkward thing is that I think Taiwanese patriotism is important, while I think American patriotism tends to have... generally negative consequences. Perhaps it's because I feel that the people of Taiwan have a confused sense of national identity, and tend not to turn love of country into hate of others.
Just a while back the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) media in Taiwan criticized President Chen over the government's refusal to allow the Olympic torch relay to set foot in the country. There seems to be this mentality that Taiwan should just accept whatever China does to it on the international stage of diplomacy, and at this point we should be thankful that China even allows Taiwan to participate at all. Being unable to display your own country's flag and being referred to as Taipei, China or "Chinese Taipei" is indeed somewhat unsettling even for a person who dislikes nationalism. Maybe not. It could be that it's just me...
Now I would have less of a problem with the KMT taking the stance that boycotts are unreasonable and self-defeating, if they didn't do the same thing themselves. As an example, Chinese Natioanlist Party presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou vowed to defend the rights of audiences at sports games to carry national flags, and that the Taiwanese government with him as president would cancel any games where Chinese teams refused to cooperate. (Note important history here: Chinese teams have indeed forcibly removed Taiwanese flags from stages and ceremonies)
Now, there's an important distinction to be made between the government doing something, and civilians doing something. In this scenario, "something" refers to displaying the national flag. Previously China succeeded in getting the International Olympic Committee to ban Taiwan from attending the Olympics, until Taiwan signed an agreement promising not to display its national flag or play its national anthem during the Games. The rule held for other international games as well - not just the Olympics.
At this point there are two different ways to interpret the agreement. From my anecdotal experience, Taiwanese tend to accept an interpretation that bans official displays of Taiwanese flags. If a Taiwanese athlete should win a Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the flag cannot be displayed on the podium, nor can the national anthem be played. It's certainly not a desirable situation particularly if you believe that Taiwan is a sovereign nation, but people accept it for the same reason that most Taiwanese favor the status quo while China holds a military advantage.
However, judging from the multiple incidents I have learned about via international news, the Chinese seem to interpret the agreement a bit more broadly. No Taiwan flags. This includes those brought by spectators.
During the 2005 Asian Figure Skating Trophy at the Taipei Arena, the [Taiwanese] audience was banned from bringing the national flag and the Taipei City Government -- while Ma was mayor -- failed to defend the audience's right, arguing it was not the organizer of the event.Now we come to the fun part. The Chinese are demanding that no Taiwanese can display the Republic of China flag during a possible Olympic torch run. And that apparently is a little too much even for the Chinese Nationalist Party in Taiwan. Of course if I really wanted to piss off some Chinese Nationalist from China, I would pull out a 'fake' flag of the Republic of Taiwan and say that there's no official rule against it. Hell, it would actually have been awesome if the torch had been run through Taiwan. Just imagine the world cameras there, and then people on the streets waving flags... priceless.
A similar situation arose during the Taiwan Auto Gymkhana Grand Prix at the Taipei Tobacco Factory in 2005, in which the national flag was not allowed to fly.
The problem is that Ma himself is responsible for a lot of kow-towing to China, as was indicated in the above link. Perhaps it could be explained that Ma has a change of heart and has decided not to reflexively side with Beijing against Taiwan like the KMT generally does. On the other hand I personally believe a explanation which *might* be more biased - Presidential elections are coming up, and he wants votes from people who consider themselves Taiwanese, not Chinese. (note that roughly 70% of the population supports Taiwan's bid for an official spot in the UN)
Don't elections always bring out the best in people?
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