Taiwan Today

The Olympic games, no matter when and where they are held, are presumably intended for the promotion of fair competition in athletics. But this year, several days before the Olympics were formally opened at Helsinki on July 19, the International Olympic Committee chose to play a game of politics. When called upon to decide whether China should be represented by the athletes of Free China sent from Taiwan or by those sent by the Communist regime in Peiping, the Committee evaded the issue by voting to permit both delegations to participate in the games. This decision was both illegal and unwise. It was illegal because, in the first place, it violated the Olympic tradition of having each nation represented by only one delegation and, in the second place, it gave recognition to the Soviet-backed puppet regime which the great majority of the nations in the world had refused to recognize. And it was unwise because the I. O. C. had nothing to gain by such a decision; on the contrary, it had the effect of identifying that international body with the odious policy of appeasing the Communist aggressors, and it was an act which was far from being calculated to enhance the prestige of the Committee. The National Government, as the legitimate Government of the Republic of China recognized by the majority of the world's civilized nations, took the only course of action open to it when it refused to send Free China's athletes to Helsinki, and it was a decision which has since been widely commended by public opinion both in Taiwan and abroad. For it is quite obvious that the Chinese Government would have compromised its position and honor if it had permitted its athletic delegation to participate in the Olympic games side by side with the athletes sent by a regime which in its eyes is nothing but a rebel organization and which has been branded as an aggressor by the United Nations. It has been reported that in making its decision the I. O. C. was largely influenced by Lord Burghley, the British representative. The British attitude is quite understandable as Britain, in 50 far as her policy of fawning on the Chinese Communists is concerned, has long proved herself to be a nation having no sense of honor or self-respect.