Reme Ahmad in Singapore talks to
Ong Hwee Hwee in Taipei
RA: How are the Taiwanese people looking at the Olympics in Beijing? Do they feel a sense of pride, or do they think like they would if the Olympics are being organised by another country?
OHH: For many Taiwanese, the Beijing Olympics have special significance because of the unique relationship between the longtime rivals. Taiwanese see it as their chance to fight back - for once - and even beat China on their home ground. With Taiwan fast losing the diplomatic battle for international recognition amid China's growing clout, it is a rare chance to boost the island's international exposure.
Despite the recent cross-strait rapprochement, many ordinary Taiwanese are still somewhat bitter that their athletes are not allowed to carry the ROC flag, and the fact that even spectators are barred from doing so at the Beijing Games. Instead of the ROC flag being hoisted and its national anthem being played when Taiwanese athletes win medal at Olympics, Taiwan has to make do with a special Olympic flag and anthem.
This time round, special attention will also be paid on whether Kuomintang chairman Wu Po-Hsiung - invited to the opening ceremony - will be seated with other state leaders.
RA: Taiwan sent a contingent there, like it did to other Olympic Games. But how do Taiwanese officials feel towards this Chinese Taipei team? Any sense of 'we must do better this time because it is being held in China'?
OHH: Olympic pride has been growing in Taiwan since its taekwondo team brought back Taiwan's first gold medals. The team had on two golds - at the Athen Olympics four years ago. Taiwan is hoping to beat its five-medal record at Athens. They are strong in taekwondo and archery, but the most-watched game would be baseball - the Taiwanese are crazy about baseball - especially when the Taiwanese team takes on Chinese team in a game scheduled for Aug 15th.
RA: Does cross-strait politics often play a part in sporting events?
OHH: Yes, China and Taiwan have a long history of political rivalry over the Olympics, which has long been a battlefield for political legitimacy between the two sides. In the 1950s, Beijing lobbied to have the IOC banished Taiwan from the Games. It didn't happen because of strong US backing for Taiwan. So Beijing withdrew from the IOC, until 1979 when Washington established formal diplomatic ties with China.
It was only until 1984 that Taiwan and China appeared together in a Summer Games in Los Angeles. But then, Taiwan had to compete under the name "Chinese Taipei", instead of its official title "Republic of China".
Last year, the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party - which was in power then - turned down Beijing's offer to include Taipei in the torch relay route because the torch would then go on to Hong Kong and Macau, which are both Chinese territories. But relations have improved vastly after the Kuomintang took power this year.
Instead of "Chinese Taipei", the Chinese media previously addressed the Taiwanese team as "China Taipei" - which strongly suggested that Taiwan is part of China. Now, they have switched to Chinese Taipei as a sign of goodwill.
Still, some are upset that Beijing is changing the sequence of appearance at the opening ceremony. Teams will march in according to their Chinese names, so that places the Taiwanese team almost next to the Hong Kong contingent.
There were also incidents of Taiwanese athletes and supporters getting into a brawl with their Chinese counterparts in other sporting events after the latter tried to snatch or stop them from displaying the ROC flag.