Mainland China has a real beef with the island of Taiwan, so much so that Chinese state-controlled media have stopped airing certain Olympic events if Taiwan bests China.
This is likely due to China’s pique at the very idea that Taiwan can compete under its own name as a nation. The Chinese Communist Party insists that Taiwan is part of China under its “One China” policy, and has threatened the island nation for years. Chinese warships have been patrolling the Taiwan strait recently and harassing islands and shoals that Taiwan considers its territory. China does not officially recognize Taiwan as having any sovereign territory or borders.
China’s wounded pride was on full display when state media outlet CCTV stopped showing the 2024 Olympic games on August 4 when it became clear that the Taiwanese badminton team would win against the favored Chinese team. The Taiwanese athletes won the gold medal.
This was the first gold medal in this year’s games for the island nation, and it was down to the skill of the two-man team made up of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin. They beat China’s athletes Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.
Parsing the difference between mainland China and Taiwan can be difficult for outsiders, as they are ethnically and culturally the same people. They speak the same dialects, and they name their children from a common set of names. In a cultural sense, Taiwanese people are in fact Chinese. But Taiwan and China hotly dispute whether Taiwan is a separate country entitled to govern itself.
This confusion can be seen if you want to find the Taiwanese Olympic champions. Mainland China maneuvered the Olympics into labeling the country “Chinese Taipei,” so this is the name one has to use when searching. Since few people outside China would know this, it is an effective way for the Communist country to disappear reality in the news media.
In addition, Taiwanese competitors are forced to compete under a flower design logo imposed by China and are not allowed to wear their country’s flag.
