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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Group promotes ‘Taiwan’ in Tokyo
Taiwanese campaigners display pro-Taiwanese independence paraphernalia in Tokyo yesterday. Photo: CNA
By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
Taiwan United Nations Alliance members yesterday rallied in Tokyo to call for Taiwan’s participation in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 under the name “Taiwan,” as part of their “name rectification campaign” and Taiwanization efforts.
After a meeting with Taiwan’s Deputy Representative to Japan Kuo Chung-shi （郭仲熙） at the alliance’s Tokyo chapter, alliance members staged a parade calling for the name of Taiwan’s national sports team to be changed from “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan.”
The alliance would meet with Japanese lawmakers and local think tanks to lobby for its cause, it said.
Alliance director Michael Tsai （蔡明憲） expressed gratitude for the support of Japanese, as more than 60,000 had signed a petition calling for Taiwan’s participation in the Tokyo Olympics under the name “Taiwan.”
“It was expected that China would tighten its grip on Taiwan after Chinese President Xi Jinping （習近平） took office, which would suppress Taiwan’s international presence and its bid to join the UN,” Tsai said.
“However, if we give up the effort, we would be doing wrong to future generations,” he said.
Taiwan has never been a part of China and when the Republic of China was a formal member of the UN, the membership did not include Taiwan, he said.
“The government cannot act against the public. It cannot be interfered with if Taiwanese vote in a referendum to join the UN under the name of ‘Taiwan,’” he said.
Alliance Tokyo chapter director Kinyu Takamoto said President Tsai Ing-wen’s （蔡英文） administration was not committed to attaining UN membership.
Overseas Taiwanese would contribute to the cause, but the Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） administration has to be more aggressive, Takamoto said.
The alliance’s Tokyo chapter, its first overseas branch, was established 10 years ago when the then-DPP administration was preparing to initiate a referendum on UN membership application, the alliance said.
The rally prompted a scathing report by China’s state-run People’s Daily, which insisted on the “one China” principle over the campaigners’ efforts to convince authorities to drop the name “Chinese Taipei.”
“It is this aggression and unreasonableness, and Beijing’s suppression of Taiwan’s international participation that drives Taiwanese away from China,” alliance spokesman Tseng Tsung-kai （曾琮愷） said.
The alliance would continue to campaign for the cause and help the government do what is considered politically sensitive for a government, Tseng said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
