Buried within another story was a disturbing revelation that during a figure skating competition in Taipei on Tuesday, the flag of the People’s Republic of China was flown, but Taiwan’s was not.
For Taiwan to bow to Chinese pressure on its own soil is absolutely shameful. What did Taipei’s Mayor Ma have to do with this episode? Will he do anything to punish those responsible?
Hizzonner is a pro-unificationist, so no one should him to take concrete action any time soon.
Update (Nov 13/05): A similar incident occurred at Taipei’s Little Dome during a judo championship, but there is an additional wrinkle to the story. Taiwan has foolishly acquiesced to a rule with the International Olympic Committee which forbids the display of its own flag during IOC events – even on its own territory.
Flag protest breaks out at judo competition
Update (Nov 16/05): One point that I neglected to mention in the original post and in the Nov 13 update was that private citizens were forbidden from cheering for the home team with Taiwanese flags they had brought with them into the stadium. Unthinkable in a Western country.
It looks like this is going to become a political issue here.
Pan-greens* attack Ma over flag debacle
* The pan-greens should not be thought of as Western-style "Green" political parties. Rather, they consist of the Taiwanese political parties that want formal independence from China, or argue that Taiwan already possesses such independence.