China boycotts opening of World Games in Taiwan

The 100-strong Chinese delegation boycotted the opening ceremony of the World Games in Taiwan today, underscoring the limits of the historic breakthrough in relations between Taipei and Beijing. The Chinese gesture is likely to ruffle feathers on this democratic island of 23 million people, which under President Ma Ying-jeou has moved aggressively to improve ties with the mainland, its once-bitter enemy.

While the Chinese delegation did not say immediately why it boycotted the ceremony — a comment on state-run China News Service acknowledged the presence of Chinese athletes in Taiwan, without mentioning the opening ceremony — the act is almost certainly related to Ma's role in declaring the games open. In his opening remarks, Ma simply declared the games to have begun, without mentioning the boycott. Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949 and the communist mainland still views the island as part of its territory. Because of this claim Chinese attendance at the ceremony could have been seen as lending legitimacy to Ma's presidential role. That would contradict Beijing's long-standing position that Taiwan lacks state sovereignty.

Under a hazy summer sky in the southern city of Kaohsiung, more than 3,000 athletes and staff from 105 countries and territories marched into the World Games Stadium, a new, eye-catching structure designed by renowned Japanese architect Toyo Ito.