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Q: Why does Taiwan compete as "Chinese Taipei"?

In short, the former government of Taiwan, officially known as the ROC, was headed by the Kuomintang (KMT) who once claimed to represent China even as the People's Republic of China (PRC) filled that role. Today, the name "Chinese Taipei" is increasingly used by the PRC to mislead the public on the status of Taiwan. To be clear, Taiwan has never been ruled by the PRC, though its former leaders claimed to rule over Chinese territory.

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A relic of the Cold War era, "Chinese Taipei" has never represented the Taiwanese athletes or people; it represents an obsolete goal of the unelected KMT government to represent China.

Q: Why doesn't Taiwan simply change its team name?

There have been various initiatives to change the name under which Taiwan competes, most recently a national referendum in 2018 which ultimately failed. Unfortunately, due to political pressure from abroad, applying under the name of "Taiwan" for all international sports events risks disbarring Taiwanese athletes from competition.

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In fact, prior to the 2018 referendum, the East Asian Olympic Committee (EAOC) revoked Taichung City's right to host the first East Asian Youth Games, citing "political factors." The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also disapproved the altered name and sent warnings ahead of the referendum vote concerning the renaming issue, stating it may disbar Taiwan from Olympic competitions.

Q: Aren't most Taiwanese ethnically Chinese anyway?

Let alone the debatable assertion of "Chinese" as a single ethnicity (China itself recognizes 56 different ethnic groups), ethnicity is not the sole basis for national identity. The majority of Taiwanese people can trace their ancestry back to China, but they have forged a separate and coherent identity over time.

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Taiwan has a diversity of ethnicities and languages, including but not limited to Chinese (Mandarin, Hoklo, Hakka), Amis, Paiwan, Atayal, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese, and English. Team Taiwan enables sports fans to celebrate Taiwan's diversity.

Q: What can a friend of Taiwan do to improve its international representation?

Besides wearing Team Taiwan merchandise to raise awareness, one can become more educated about Taiwan and be open to discuss its lack of representation with those who may be less familiar with the topic.

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In addition, there are plenty of 501(c)(3) organizations that work to either improve education on issues relating to Taiwan or improve representation of Taiwanese or Taiwanese Americans:

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