The team name that both sides of the strait want to erase: Will "Chinese Taipei" enter history?

Although everyone should still be immersed in Olympic viewing mode and the adrenaline is so high, I still want to point out this little-known thing.

Today, if you enter "Chinese Taipei" in the official Chinese media "Xinhuanet", you can't find any entries or reports (if you enter "Chinese Taipei", you can still find something); in this Tokyo Olympics, China has also Almost all of them use "China Taiwan" to refer to the Taiwan team.

However, in fact, the two sides negotiated the Chinese translation of "Chinese Taipei" in 1988. At that time, both parties agreed to use "Chinese Taipei" as the official translation.

During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China, as the host country, has always abided by this agreement, calling the Taiwan team "Chinese Taipei".

However, this title has gradually entered history on the other side since about 2016.

The beginning of this change is likely to be the year Xinhua News Agency issued the " Forbidden Words and Cautionary Words in News Information Reports ".

In this guideline, Xinhua News Agency stipulates that for the affairs of the International Olympic Games, "according to the requirements or agreement of the corresponding regulations", but when giving examples, it only mentions the "Chinese national team" and "Hong Kong team", and does not mention the "Hong Kong team". and Taiwan.

However, in the same guideline, the article on "international organizations and non-governmental international economic, trade, cultural, and sports organizations" stipulates that if the Taiwan delegation participates in such organizations, it should be referred to as "China Taiwan" or "China Taiwan" in the report. Taipei"; if you want to use "Chinese Taipei", you need to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

Under these two clauses, if you are a Chinese journalist covering the Olympics, the easiest and safest way to do this is to use "Chinese Taipei" directly instead of "Chinese Taipei" which can only be used after consulting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. ".

Some people may ask: "Chinese Taipei" and "Chinese Taipei" are only one word apart. Is it necessary to compare them with each other? Anyway, the official name in English is "Chinese Taipei".

As I wrote this yesterday, I was thinking that, looking back many years from now, this event may have more significance than we realize today.

Literally, the formats of "Chinese Taipei", "Hong Kong, China" and "Macao, China" are more uniform, which obviously allows Taiwan to be treated as a "special administrative region", and "the same as Hong Kong and Macau", rather than no longer It is "the regime in 'Taipei' that calls itself the 'Republic of China'".

However, this approach also reflects that Beijing is obviously more confident than in 1988 in the competition for "orthodox China's representation" - the People's Republic of China is in this long-distance historical race of "Han and Thieves" , has completely dominated and monopolized China's "representation", and the use of "Chinese Taipei" and the abandonment of "Chinese Taipei" also highlights a message in the name again: "One China, each table" is only This is for Taiwanese, but in the international arena, I only talk about "one China", and there is no such thing as "each table".

Looking back again, no matter how much honor it has given us and how much international space it has exchanged for us over the past 40 years, this symbol will eventually go away. into history.

It seems that this trend will not change at the moment, because whether it is on the other side or on the Taiwan side, the name "Chinese Taipei" is only a "secondary" and "unsatisfactory" choice - not only Beijing It has been avoided recently, and there has been a referendum on the "Dongao rectification" on Taiwan's side (although it did not pass in the end).

When I wrote this report yesterday, I always felt that the giant wheel of a certain era was quietly rolling. I also always thought that Chen Nianqin, a child of the Amis ethnic group, was also a "Matsu girl", and that Li Yang, a Kinmen native, said "My country is Taiwan."

The decline of the name "Chinese Taipei" means the decline of the Republic of China after all. As for whether "Chinese Taipei" will become "Chinese Taipei" or "Taiwan" in the future?

I have no idea. I only know that I am also a witness of this history, just like we are all the audience of "Tumble Boy", watching Li Zhikai grow up, heartily moved, and then silently expect him to be well and shine in this world.

Note: Regarding the origin of the international participation model of "Chinese Taipei", please click the link below to read " When Taiwanese players win the gold medal, what flag is raised at the awards ceremony?" what song? >