Taiwan Today

Spectators at next month’s World Games will be able to unfurl national flags and banners as long as they do not interfere with the event or other crowd members. The Kaohsiung Organizing Committee of the 2009 World Games reiterated this ruling June 28. Although the World Games do not fall in the categories of the Asian Games or Olympic Games, and are not under the jurisdiction of the International Olympic Games, Kaohsiung City, when competing in 2003 to become the host city, promised the International World Games Association that the games would be carried out in the “Olympic Games pattern.” The songs and flags of most countries or territories participating in the Olympic Games are their national anthems and national flags. However, Taiwan’s Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee has adopted the national flag anthem as its song and a flag with the national emblem, the five-circle Olympic symbol and a plum flower pattern on it. This is dubbed the “Olympics Games pattern.” The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee explained the situation according to the International Olympic Charter: Flags and songs not falling within the Olympic Games pattern are not allowed to appear at the venue, including the opening and closing ceremonies. Chen Kuo-i, secretary general of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, has emphasized that the “Olympic Games pattern” can only be applied within the venue of the games, including the village where players stay, and official documents of the games, but stops at the audience seats. There have been exceptions, too. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the 2000 Games in Sydney and last year in Beijing, there was a precaution on event tickets saying that no national flags were allowed. It was assumed that ticket purchasers were willing to comply with this restriction. Due to this prohibition, Taiwanese people who brought in national flags were expelled from the Beijing Olympics. Audience members were not permitted to take in any items that the International Olympic Committee did not acknowledge, one of them being national flags. (CY-THN)