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Chinese state TV pulls plug on Taiwan's badminton victory

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Chinese state TV pulls plug on Taiwan's badminton victory
August 5, 2024
Article Body Text Chinese state TV pulled the plug on a live broadcast at the weekend, as democratic Taiwan's badminton team beat China in the men's doubles to take Olympic gold in Paris. Taiwan, which competes in the Olympics as Chinese Taipei, picked up its first gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Sunday as Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin beat out first-seeded Chinese pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, relegating them to the silver spot on the podium, to the cheers and shouts of delirious Taiwanese fans. The match, which was broadcast live in full throughout Taiwan, had its live broadcast cut by China's state broadcaster CCTV to omit the sections of the match where the Taiwanese pair was clearly winning. The medals ceremony and audience celebrations at the end were also cut. <figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_002.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Members of Team China walk past fans of Taiwan who gathered outside Porte de la Chapelle Stadium, the venue for badminton, after Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin defeated China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in their men's doubles gold medal match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (Dita Alangkara/AP)" height="512" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_002.jpg/@@images/3c2376be-3661-4a63-acd1-4c6ed025bb7e.jpeg" title="ENG_CHN_TAIWAN BADMINTON_08052024_002.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">Members of Team China walk past fans of Taiwan who gathered outside Porte de la Chapelle Stadium, the venue for badminton, after Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin defeated China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in their men's doubles gold medal match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (Dita Alangkara/AP)</figcaption> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="Members of Team China walk past fans of Taiwan who gathered outside Porte de la Chapelle Stadium, the venue for badminton, after Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin defeated China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in their men's doubles gold medal match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (Dita Alangkara/AP)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_002.jpg" id="single_image" title="Members of Team China walk past fans of Taiwan who gathered outside Porte de la Chapelle Stadium, the venue for badminton, after Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin defeated China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in their men's doubles gold medal match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (Dita Alangkara/AP)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> The Taiwanese victory played out amid <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-taiwan-drills-05232024000946.html">ongoing military tensions</a> in the Taiwan Strait over China's territorial claim on the island, whose 23 million people <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/more-than-80-percent-of-taiwanese-01092019115150.html">have no wish</a> to submit to Chinese Communist Party rule, and which has never formed part of the neighboring People's Republic of China. It came as Olympics organizers targeted Taiwanese supporters in Paris who displayed any symbol of the island's statehood, as opposed to the flower-like emblem of the Chinese Taipei team that is deemed acceptable by Beijing. The state broadcaster's CCTV16 Olympics channel footage cut off abruptly after the match ended, and only started midway, as the Chinese pair started to make some headway. The live footage was also apparently directed to ensure that audience shots were kept to a minimum, as the Taiwanese fans yelled "Taiwan!" and "Taiwan No. 1!" Not the national anthem In all, the broadcaster only allowed 40 minutes of the 76-minute match to air, switching over to coverage of men's gymnastics as soon as the match ended. When the Taiwanese team took the podium, organizers played the National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China, as opposed to the national anthem of the Republic of China, a sovereign state founded with the Chinese revolution of 1911 that still formally controls the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. While the flag raised at Sunday's ceremony in Paris was the Olympic flag of the Chinese Taipei team rather than the Republic of China flag, Taiwanese fans in the crowd could be heard singing along, with the lyrics clearly audible on the uncensored live footage of the event. <figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_003.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Liang Weikeng (left) and Wang Chang (right) of China in the men's doubles badminton final at the Paris Olympics. (Reuters)" height="512" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_003.jpg/@@images/e49164f7-38b5-403a-ba51-9b3a5bbbdb9c.jpeg" title="ENG_CHN_TAIWAN BADMINTON_08052024_003.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">Liang Weikeng (left) and Wang Chang (right) of China in the men's doubles badminton final at the Paris Olympics. (Reuters)</figcaption> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="Liang Weikeng (left) and Wang Chang (right) of China in the men's doubles badminton final at the Paris Olympics. (Reuters)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_003.jpg" id="single_image" title="Liang Weikeng (left) and Wang Chang (right) of China in the men's doubles badminton final at the Paris Olympics. (Reuters)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> Taiwanese fans told RFA Cantonese that they had had the flag confiscated when they showed up at competition venues, as it isn't permitted at Olympic events, at China's insistence. "I have had the national flag taken away from me on my way inside before," an Olympics supporter from Taiwan who gave only the nickname Anny said on Sunday. "It was taken away and put in a little dark room." She said a placard she was carrying had also been taken away for inspection. "They said they had to verify that it was relevant to Taiwan before they gave it back to me," she said. ‘Little pinks’ see red Meanwhile, Hong Kong media reported only that Liang and Wang had taken a silver medal, but not the names or nationality of the pair who won gold. The match also drew criticism on Chinese social media from "little pink" nationalists, who accused the umpire of bias against China in three decisions over whether a shot fell inside or outside the permitted lines. "Hey referee, are you a supporter of independence for Taiwan?" quipped one, while another user commented on a post by state broadcaster CCTV that China had won both gold and silver, in a reference to Beijing's claim that the island is an "inalienable part of China's territory." <figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_004.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin celebrate winning the men's doubles badminton final match against China during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)" height="512" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_004.jpg/@@images/0b14b8c1-45f1-411c-8bcb-bf1143bc3c5f.jpeg" title="ENG_CHN_TAIWAN BADMINTON_08052024_004.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin celebrate winning the men's doubles badminton final match against China during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)</figcaption> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin celebrate winning the men's doubles badminton final match against China during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_004.jpg" id="single_image" title="Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin celebrate winning the men's doubles badminton final match against China during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> Some "little pinks" left comments on posts by Taiwanese media organizations, with one comment reading: "It doesn't matter who wins: they're all from China." "When will unification happen?" asked another. "I don't want to see a team from Taiwan at the next Olympics." Taiwanese soccer commentator Max Shih said this isn't the first time CCTV has pulled the plug on a men's badminton doubles match with Taiwan, citing the defeat of China's Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen by Lin and Yang at the Tokyo Olympics. "CCTV can't win, whether they decide to broadcast it or not," Shih told RFA Mandarin on Monday. "If they do, and China loses with shots of Taiwanese fans ... it's very awkward for them." ‘Narrow-minded and intolerant’ "China claims to be a major power, but in fact it's very narrow-minded and intolerant," political commentator Chen Pokong said. "That's why CCTV stops broadcasting when it loses, and broadcasts only when China wins." "China claims that politics has no place in the Olympics, but they themselves bring politics to the Olympics," he said. He said the state broadcaster is under huge pressure to deliver footage deemed acceptable to Beijing. "[The Chinese athletes] were told that they could only accept interviews from CCTV," Chen said. "CCTV mobilized 2,000 people to broadcast and report on these Olympics ... so they are under great pressure." <figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_005.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="China's Wang Chang and Liang Weikeng congratulate Taiwan's Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang after the men's doubles badminton final match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)" height="512" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_005.jpg/@@images/fc4c196e-9d3d-41c2-b702-793eb542fd8c.jpeg" title="ENG_CHN_TAIWAN BADMINTON_08052024_005.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">China's Wang Chang and Liang Weikeng congratulate Taiwan's Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang after the men's doubles badminton final match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)</figcaption> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="China's Wang Chang and Liang Weikeng congratulate Taiwan's Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang after the men's doubles badminton final match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_005.jpg" id="single_image" title="China's Wang Chang and Liang Weikeng congratulate Taiwan's Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang after the men's doubles badminton final match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> <hr/> Take a moment to read more <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-chinese-netizens-medals-07302024105921.html">Chinese social media users slam athletes over failure to deliver gold</a> [Video explainer] <a href="https://youtu.be/-5eZmej1ehY?si=UC28J8MdRaDabRiO" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Chinese athletes caught in doping scandal</a> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-doping-swimming-congress-lawmakers-07302024114710.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">US lawmakers allege rampant Chinese Olympics doping</a> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-chinese-protest-human-rights-07292024123126.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Chinese dissidents in exile stage sporadic Olympic rights protests in Paris</a> [Fact Check] <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/afcl/afcl-paris-olympics-dopping-test-07312024035103.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Did a US swimmer dodge drug tests for the Paris Olympics?</a> <hr/> Chen Li-fu, president of the Taiwan Professors Association, said China appears to lack confidence in its own international image. "[This leadership] lacks confidence, and fears that they will lose support among the Chinese people if China loses," Chen said, adding that there was also huge demand to see the match live in China. "They know this very well, but if they are going to lose, they'd be better off not broadcasting it," he said. "This will make Xi Jinping a laughing stock when people talk about this." <figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_006.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Taiwan's gold medalists (R) Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin and China's silver medalists Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang stand up for the anthem of Chinese Taipei on the podium at the men's doubles badminton medal ceremony during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)" height="512" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_006.jpg/@@images/1e189a5e-bd54-4274-9c72-94191f8f8cf1.jpeg" title="ENG_CHN_TAIWAN BADMINTON_08052024_006.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">Taiwan's gold medalists (R) Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin and China's silver medalists Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang stand up for the anthem of Chinese Taipei on the podium at the men's doubles badminton medal ceremony during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)</figcaption> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="Taiwan's gold medalists (R) Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin and China's silver medalists Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang stand up for the anthem of Chinese Taipei on the podium at the men's doubles badminton medal ceremony during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/olympics-paris-taiwan-badminton-chinese-taipei-08052024143850.html/eng_chn_taiwan-badminton_08052024_006.jpg" id="single_image" title="Taiwan's gold medalists (R) Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin and China's silver medalists Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang stand up for the anthem of Chinese Taipei on the podium at the men's doubles badminton medal ceremony during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. (Arun Sankar/AFP)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
Content Type Text
Language English
NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing Available No
Rights (Antonin Thuillier/AFP)
Network VOA
Embargo Date August 6, 2024 10:20 EDT
Byline By Huang Chun-mei for RFA Mandarin, Ray Chung and Edward Li for RFA Cantonese
Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English