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Taiwan Must Back One-China If It Wants Olympic Ties
Taiwan must accept the one-China principle to host any sporting events with Beijing's approval during the 2008 summer Olympic Games.
China's Sports General Administration made the one-China comment Friday in response to Taiwan's proposal to help Beijing host the games.
Only by supporting the principle can Taiwan start negotiation with Beijing for possible co-operation, said administration division head Shao Shiwei.
"An expectation Chinese people on both sides of the Straits have had for a long time is to bring the Olympic Games to China," said Shao.
He said the administration is considering talks with Taiwan sports authorities pending their support for the one-China principle if Beijing gets permission to host the games. "We won't allow anyone to use this issue to promote 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan' or anything detrimental to the reunification of the Chinese nation," Shao said.
Over the past several months, Taiwan has repeated hopes to play a role in the 2008 Games.
Wu Ching-Kuo, a Taipei representative on the International Olympic Committee, kicked off a visit to Beijing on Wednesday to talk about Olympic co-operation. He implied that he would support Beijing's bid to host the games.
"We welcome him to vote for Beijing in the final cast next year," said Shao.
Beijing has turned in a bid questionnaire to the International Olympic Committee, allowing it to compete with nine other applicants.
Beijing 2008 Olympic Bidding Committee officials said they are confident the International Olympic Committee will let Beijing become a candidate in August.
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