Taiwan may boycott Asian Games over invitation
Taiwan may boycott Asian Games over invitation
TAIPEI (Reuter): Taiwan yesterday warned it might boycott next month's Asian Games in Japan if Olympic officials rescinded under pressure from Beijing an invitation to Taiwan President Lee Teng- hui to attend.
"If the OCA (Olympic Council of Asia) decides not to invite President Lee under pressure from China and Japan, we do not rule out the possibility of a boycott of the games," Taiwan Olympic Committee (TOC) Deputy Secretary-General Chen Kuo-yi said by telephone.
The Kyodo news agency quoted TOC Chairman Chang Feng-shu as saying Taiwan would boycott the games in Hiroshima if the OCA decided not to invite Lee. Chang was not available for comment.
"If Chairman Chang said so, he has his reasons and I am not surprised because he has instructed us that the committee's attitude is to follow the Taiwan people's reaction, which is expected to be drastic," Chen said.
"However, we hope matters will not develop that far," he said.
The controversy erupted after China protested last week against an invitation extended by OCA President Ahmad al-Fahad of Kuwait without consulting Japanese officials. The Taiwan president appeared to have been the only Asian head of state invited for the event.
China, the biggest foreign entry for the Games with 568 athletes, has threatened to boycott because of the OCA invitation to Lee. Taiwan has entered 270 athletes.
Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province.
In a sign of how concerned Japan has become about China's threatened boycott, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama stepped into the diplomatic row on Tuesday to remind Taipei that Tokyo has a one-China policy that recognizes Beijing.
Kyodo, reporting from Paris where the Olympic movement is meeting, said on Tuesday the OCA president had hinted he would withdraw his invitation to Lee.
"But Chairman Chang told me that he had again contacted Ahmad, who insisted his stand had not changed," Chen said.
Seven Taiwan legislators are to visit Japan on Thursday with a petition signed by 113 members of parliament to try to persuade Japanese officials to invite Lee.
Lee had yet to decide whether he would attend, presidential spokesman Raymond Tai said on Tuesday.
"Taiwan's boycott might be a trivial matter for the Asian Games, but we should not allow politics to intervene in sports," Kyodo quoted Chang as saying.
Chang told Kyodo, "A riot would break out in Taiwan if Japan refuses to welcome President Lee."
"Since the Olympic Games have a principle of peace and harmony, we hope the Republic of China (Taiwan), communist China and Japan can work a way out perfectly on this event," he said.
A record 7,300 athletes and officials from 42 nations are due to take part in the quadrennial sports event from October 2 to 16, competing in 337 events in 34 sports.