Taiwan rivalry takes to the baseball field
Posted: Friday, August 15, 2008 3:33 PM
Filed Under:
Beijing, China
By Petra Cahill, msnbc.com editor and reporter
As political rivals China and Chinese Taipei – the name Taiwan competes under in the Olympics – stepped up to the plate Friday, the Olympic gods must have smiled down on the contentious game. After causing havoc Thursday, thunderous storms subsided, giving way to a hot, sunny, blue skies summer day. The players seemed to enjoy the weather so much they didn't want to stop playing – all the way into extra innings.
Medals were not at stake during Friday’s matchup, but national pride was.
China considers Taiwan, a democratically governed island nation of 23 million, a breakaway province that must accept eventual reunification with the mainland. The issue of independence led China to boycott the Olympics for years, but the countries have enjoyed a recent thaw in relations amid a Beijing-led effort to act as "one big family" at the Games.
The Taiwanese are wild about baseball – so much so that they consider it their national sport – and were heavily favored to win Friday’s game.
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| Petra Cahill/ msnbc.com |
| Zhou Yuchao, a Chinese Taipei fan, cheers for his team against China, at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, on Friday. |
Baseball is still a relatively new sport to China. The Chinese baseball team never competed in the Olympics before this year - it was automatically awarded a chance to compete because Beijing is hosting the games.
"Chinese Taipei is stronger than China in baseball, but in other ways in the future, we have no idea," Hou Yalin jokingly said. But her younger brother, Hou Chang Chung, dismissed any political rivalry spilling onto the baseball field, saying, "We are here just to enjoy the game. It’s just like a normal situation – Taiwan should win."
The Hous - sister Yalin, and brothers Chang Chung, and Cheng Lung -- all in their thirties -- came from Taiwan to Beijing specifically to cheer on their baseball team and were confident they'd handily beat China.
Amiable atmosphere
Before the first pitch, the spectator seats were full of eager fans for both sides. The Chinese Taipei fans stood out with red, white and blue baseball caps and shirts emblazoned with Chinese Taipei or the initials "CT." Many were also waving the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag, while the Chinese waved their signature red flag.
The crowd was amiable with big cheers from both sides punctuated by the loud bangs of striking thundersticks.
When Chinese fan Wang Shaohue was asked about the potential political rivalry between the two teams he simply said, "It’s a friendly game." His wife, Dai Ming, quickly added, "We’re all family."
Politics and Olympics long tied
In the lead-up to the Olympics, China has taken a softer line towards the island nation and has tried to roll out the welcome mat. But as far as many in the independent Taiwan are concerned, they are not all family.
When Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist Party lost the civil war against Mao Zedong and his Communist Party in 1949, they fled to Taiwan and established their government there – thus creating the schism between island and mainland that persists to this day.
How the country is recognized in the international venue of the Olympics has been an issue ever since. During the Cold War, China’s Communist leaders demanded that the International Olympic Committee banish Taiwan from competition. But when the IOC refused, partly due to strong backing of Taiwan from the United States, China withdrew from the committee in 1958 and stopped participating in subsequent Olympic Games.
China’s self-imposed exile lasted until 1979, at which point all parties agreed on the terminology for Taiwan during the Olympics: Chinese Taipei. They also designated a special Olympic flag that Chinese Taipei could fly during the games.
The 1984 Games in Los Angeles were the first to see the return of Chinese athletes as well as those from Taiwan.
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| Wally Santana / AP |
| Fans in Tapei, Taiwan, cheer as they watch the televised Olympic baseball game between Taiwan and China, on Friday. |
Improved ties
Relations have improved between the two sides of late as a result of China’s efforts to be a good neighbor ahead of the games, as well as Taiwan’s new President Ma Ying-jeou who has taken a more moderate stance towards Taiwan’s independence.
A young Taiwanese woman, Charlotte Wang, 32, who was at the game with her parents said she believes that the Olympics are definitely helping to bridge the gap between Taipei and Beijing. She said that her mother, Mady Wang, 60, has lived her whole life in Taiwan, and has traveled as far as the United States and Europe, but her trip to the Olympics was her first trip to the Chinese mainland. She said her mother had always thought of mainland China as much less developed than Taiwan, but that this trip had helped her change those perceptions.
China’s attempts to offer Taiwan a warm embrace to welcome it back to the mainland were on full display at the game as many Chinese fans expressed their team support with cheery plateaus. "I cheer for everyone because the Olympics are one big family," said Zhang Chun Li, a spectator sitting with a group of Chinese fans.
But others still betrayed some lingering sharp edges across the Taiwan Strait.
When one fan not wearing any team affiliation on his shoulder was asked who he was cheering for, he curtly said, "I go for both teams because we are all one country," and walked off before this reporter could get his name.
Whichever team they were cheering for, if the fans were looking for good baseball, the game delivered in a nail biting finish. By the top of the eighth inning, it looked like an easy victory for the Chinese Taipei team which was up 2-0. But the Chinese scored 3 runs in the bottom of the eighth, Taipei tied it up in the top of the ninth and the game went onto 12 innings.
The standoff finally ended after 4 hours and twenty minutes with the Chinese winning by 8 runs to Taipei’s 7 – crushing the spirits of the fervent Taiwanese fans for a victory over their mainland rivals this time around.
Related link: Taiwan accepts panda present from China
