Saturday, July 17, 1976
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Eleven
Saturday, July 17, 1976 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Eleven
Olympic flags tower over the
flags of countries participating
in the 21st Olympic Games as
they flap in the breeze around
the Olympic Stadium Friday
on the eve of the opening cere-
mony of the Montreal Games.
Conspicuously absent from the
Games will be Taiwan and
Nigeria, both for political
reasons.
AP Photo
BLACK AFRICA MAY FOLLOW
I aian, N geria quit Games
MONTREAL It-'The Taiwa-
ne , refusing to the end to
tbandon the name "Republic
of China," lost their battle yes-
terday to compete in the Olym-
pic Games, and in a separate
and unrelated action, Nigeria
idso pulled outt.
An official from Africa said
all Black African nations would
withdraw shortly. Jean-Claude
Ganga said the Africans were
in touch with their governments
for final confirmation on the
sIttout.
Ganga is secretary-general
of the Supreme Council for
Sports in Africa, an organiza-
tion of approximately 44 na-
tions.
Another African source said
rlier that Uganda, Togo and
Zambia were preparing to with-
draw.
The Taiwanese withdrew af-
ter the International Olympic
Committee voted overwhelming-
ly to change its rules and call
the team "Taiwan" instead of
"Repttblic of China," the name
the Canadian government re-
fased to sanction and the name
the Taiwanese insisted they
mtst have.
Lawrence Ting, head of the
Taiwanese d e l e g a t i o n, an-
nounced that his entire team,
including a small group already
here on U.S. passports and
more than 40 others waiting in
the United States, were going
home.
A few hours later, Nigeria
announced the withdrawal of
its 100-strong contingent to
protest the participation of
New Zealand and its sports
ties with South Africa.
The heads of other African
delegations, who are protesting
a tour of South Africa by a New
Zealand rugby team, met for
about 45 minutes at the Olym-
pic Village but made no an-
nouncement of plans.
A source who asked not to be
identified said final decisions
cannot be made by the people
now in Montreal but must be
made by the nations' govern-
ing bodies. No word is expected
until today, opening date of the
politically-troubled Games.
Tanzania, Mauritius and
Somalia earlier announced a
boycott of the Games because
of New Zealand's participa-
tion.
The national Olympic com-
mittees of 17 other nations
signed a letter to Lord Killanin,
the International Olympic Com-
mittee president, hinting at the
possibility of withdrawing if
New Zealand is not excluded
because of its rugby team's
tour.
Killanin, however, replied in
writing that rugby is not an
Olympic sport a n d national
Olympic committees have no
jurisdiction over it.
The squabble concerning Tai-
wan arose abruptly last month.
Here i sa brief recap:
Canada disclosed to the
world that Taiwanese athletes
would not be allowed to com-
pete if they insisted on repre-
senting the "R e p u blic of
China."
This is what Taiwan calls it-
self. It is also the name by
which the island nation of 16
million people belongs to the
International Olympic Commit-
tee.
However, the Canadian gov-
ernment severed diplomatic ties
to the Republic of China several
years ago. Canada chose in-
stead to ally itself with Tai-
wan's neighbor and adversary,
the People's Republic of China,
the Communist giant of 800 mil-
lion people that also is known
as mainland China.
The political move to exclude
Taiwan apparently was made
to solidify its relations with
mainland China, a heavy con-
sumer of Canadian wheat.
A spokesman for the Taiwan
Olympic Committee in Boston
termed the political dispute
which prevents them from com-
peting a "dark point" in the his-
tory of the Olympic Games, and
said their team would fly home
today.
The spokesman, Sung-Mo
Chang, said he considered the
proposal put by the Interna-
tional Olympic Committee to
change the Republic of
China's name to Taiwan to be
REMODELING SALE
Still in progress at
BW.OUAC1
"improper and against the
JOC rules preventing political
discrimination and interfer-
ence."
lie said since their counter-
proposal was not accepted by
the Canadian government, "we
deeply regret that we have no
alternative but to not participate
in the Games.
"We wish to express otur deep
appreciation for those who have
steadfastly supported us and
shared in our disappointment.
We remain faithful to the Olym-
pic movement and urge our
friends to continue the fight for
j u s t i c e and preservation of
Olympic principles."
Asked if he thought the U.S.
Olympic Committee should pull
out of the Games because of
the controversy, Chang said, "I
think the American committee
has to make its own decision."
Asked about future Olympics,
Chang said the Taiwan team
would like to participate in the
future and "we will always fol-
low the principles of Olympic
regulations and the schedule in
the future."
The 1980 Summer Olympics
are to be held in Moscow.
There are 54 Taiwanese who
were scheduled to take part in
the Olympics, including advi-
sors, trainers and coaches.
Twenty-five members of the
team and its officials have
been in Boston since last
week.
They were Inta ~ke sarI in 12
e v eIn t s inctitdintg swvillting,
wrestling, trtck, boxmiig, arch-
ery and yachting.
'lutring the lsttm's brief so-
jititrn in ostitn ttey have been
deeply touched by the hospital-
ity and expr sions if sympathy
'd sttppoirt Ity the American
pe n-c the media ad the Chi-
nese clmunity," ('hang ,said,
lIIe said team meiimbers were
very dlisappointed a:t not being
ale, ttt patrticipate.
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