Taiwan’s baseball team took the field Tuesday. But the country’s name was nowhere to be seen. Instead, athletes’ caps and jerseys bore “CT” for “Chinese Taipei.”
In 1949, Taiwan and China separated in a civil war. The Communist Party took power in China. The rival party set up government in Taipei on the island of Taiwan.
But China has never let go of Taiwan.
China claims democratic, self-governing Taiwan as its own. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly said he won’t rule out taking the island of 24 million people by force.
A decades-old agreement between Taiwan’s government and Beijing allows Taiwanese teams to compete internationally only if they don’t use the name—or flag—of Taiwan.
At this year’s Asian Games, China extended a warm welcome to Taiwan’s athletes. The welcome is part of a two-pronged strategy for control: woo Taiwanese people and threaten their island.
The 500 Taiwanese athletes got one of the largest cheers from the crowd at the opening ceremony. After Tuesday’s win against Hong Kong, many fans clamored for Taiwanese players to sign baseballs and caps.
Players say they don’t worry too much about the wider political situation. “I come here for the games, that’s it,” says Lin Tzu-Wei. The left fielder played with the Boston Red Sox and briefly with the Minnesota Twins before returning to Taiwan.
Taiwanese officials refuse to comment on the issue of the name. They say their focus is on the performance of their athletes.
Still, it can’t be far from the minds of many Taiwanese. China conducts increasingly large military drills in the air and waters around Taiwan. A few days before the two-week Asian Games began, China sent 103 warplanes flying toward Taiwan.
Tensions with Taiwan’s most important backer, the United States, are also rising.
China strayed in recent years from the agreement to call Taiwan “Chinese Taipei” at international sporting events. Official Chinese media now calls the country “China Taipei” instead of “Chinese Taipei.” The shift implies that it is part of China rather than suggesting an ethnic or cultural connection.
Last year, Taiwan nearly skipped the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympic Games. The team cited travel issues and pandemic concerns. But the announcement came shortly after a Chinese official called the Taiwanese team “China Taipei.”
Taiwan reversed the decision at the last minute. Officials claim the International Olympic Committee pressured the team to attend.
At the Asian Games, Hong Kong plays under its own regional flag, with its own athletes. But it is still very much part of China. Beijing hopes Hong Kong represents Taiwan’s future.
China prefers to have Taiwan come under its control willingly. It offers a “one country, two systems” framework similar to Hong Kong. Taiwan firmly rejects that idea. After all, the ruling Chinese Communist Party keeps cracking down on dissent in Hong Kong, and critics say Western-style freedoms are disappearing.
Team manager Wu Shih-Hsih was part of the Taiwan baseball team that won silver in the 1992 Summer Olympics. For him, the trip to mainland China is just about the game.
“Sports is sports, politics is politics,” he says. “We are here for the sports.”
