China has already successfully forced the Olympics to censor Taiwan. But that’s not enough for China, because nothing is ever enough for China.
The notably thin-skinned Chinese regime couldn’t even wait until after the opening ceremony to complain about coverage of Taiwan. The first offender was NBC, which holds the U.S. broadcasting rights to the Olympics. The map of China that NBC showed as the Chinese team was introduced did not include Taiwan or the South China Sea.
NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, also drew the ire of China for referring to Taiwan as Taiwan, rather than its designated Olympic name of “Chinese Taipei.” Meanwhile, Chinese company Tencent went as far as to cut its feed as Taiwan’s team entered the stadium in its effort to censor the island nation. Hopefully it was worth it, as Chinese viewers watching on Tencent also ended up missing the entrance of their own team thanks to the stunt.
Many people also seemed to notice that the Tokyo Olympics Twitter account refused to include the Taiwanese flag for Taiwan’s Yang Yung-wei when listing the men’s judo medal winners, despite doing so for the athletes from Japan, Kazakhstan, and France.
Leaving off the Taiwanese flag, @Tokyo2020? Scared of China, are we? https://t.co/WDULiOT4Df
— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) July 25, 2021
Of course, this is because the International Olympic Committee forces Taiwan to compete as “Chinese Taipei,” blocking the country from using its own name, flag, or national anthem. The IOC threatened to ban Taiwan from Olympic competition after the country went forward with a national referendum to change its Olympic name back to Taiwan. (That referendum ended up failing.)
But, evidently, it isn’t enough for China that Taiwan is stripped of its identity and forced to compete under an imaginary flag. Even while the Olympics have taken every step to erase Taiwan, China has taken to lashing out at the broadcast partners of the event.
Members of the IOC sold their souls for this, going back to the initial decision to force Taiwan to accept the “Chinese Taipei” moniker in 1976. They continue to defend letting China host the 2022 Winter Olympics as the country commits genocide. They have exposed their own hypocrisy, claiming that the IOC is not a political body while it plays politics with Taiwan (and others). All for China to turn its fire toward the broadcasters bringing the event to the world.
There is no appeasing China. The Chinese regime deems any opposition to its narrative to be so offensive that it must whine about it to all who listen. The IOC is one of the many institutions that should take this lesson to heart because China’s complaints don’t begin and end with Taiwan’s sovereignty.
