Los taiwaneses planean burlar la prohibición sobre su bandera

Aficionados taiwaneses están planeando burlar la prohibición de mostrar banderas de Taiwan en los Juegos Olímpicos. En lugar de la bandera de la "isla rebelde", ondearán la de Myanmar (Birmania), cuyo diseño es muy parecido, de forma que a una cierta distancia es dificil distinguir una de otra.

Taiwanese plan to skirt Olympics flag ban

A Taiwanese newspaper says fans are preparing to skirt a Chinese ban on displaying the Taiwan flag at the Olympics by waving the Myanmar flag instead.Tuesday's United Daily News reports that fans plan to wave the Myanmar flag because, like the Taiwan flag, it features a blue star-studded square on the upper left corner of a red backdrop.From a distance, the two might be confused.Taiwan competes in the Olympics under the name of "Chinese Taipei." China considers the self-ruled island a part of its territory. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949.Taiwan's baseball team is to compete against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

USA Today (imágenes: Flags of the World)

Confunden la bandera de Macedonia con la del Tibet

Agentes de seguridad chinos confundieron con banderas del Tibet las enseñas de Macedonia colgadas en el balcón de su apartamento de la Villa Olímpica por un atleta de esa nacionalidad.

Macedonian flag confuses Chinese Security Officials
Saso Popovski competing in single kayak discipline was the first Macedonian to arrive at the Beijing Olympic village.
The first thing Saso did was displayed two large Macedonian flags from the balkony of the Building B6.
The flags were noticed by Chinese Security Officials who mistook them for the Tibet Flag. Tibet is a Chinese province which became independent in 1913, however became part of People's Republic of China in 1951. China has made clear it wont allow any political messages displayed by neither national teams nor fans.
Popovski got a knock on his door.
- "I was surprised to see security at the door. I had put the flags out as soon as I settled in the apartment. The security asked me to take the flags down, however, I refused and told them they are Macedonian flags. The International Olympic Committee got involved and explained to the Chinese, the flags are not Tibetan flags. The security people were very embarrassed and apologized dozen times. I went to protest to the IOC Office, but they didn't know what to say, at the end it was too funny.” concluded Saso.

Macedonia On Line

Pekín 2008 restringirá la exhibición de banderas en los estadios

Introducir en los recintos olímpicos banderas de países o regiones que no participen en los Juegos Olímpicos o Paralímpicos, u otras banderas de más de dos metros de largo o un metro de ancho estará expresamente prohibido durante los Juegos de Pekín 2008, según especifica el manual de comportamiento que recibirá cada espectador que haya comprado entradas para el evento. Esta es una de las 26 reglas, siguiendo las directrices de la Carta Olímpica, que el Comité Organizador de los Juegos (BOCOG) hizo públicas ayer con el objetivo de mantener un ambiente civilizado y pacífico en las instalaciones olímpicas. Si se aplica a rajatabla, la norma, pensada para evitar la presencia de banderas del Tíbet en los recintos olímpicos, afectará también a las de las distintas autonomías españolas como Euskadi, Catalunya o Andalucía, habituales en los estadios de España.
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Boletín EIP

Banderas tibetanas fabricadas en China

La policía de la República Popular China ha descubierto una fábrica en el sur del país que producía y exportaba banderas tibetanas.

'Free Tibet' flags made in China
Police in southern China have discovered a factory manufacturing Free Tibet flags, media reports say.
The factory in Guangdong had been completing overseas orders for the flag of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Workers said they thought they were just making colourful flags and did not realise their meaning.
But then some of them saw TV images of protesters holding the emblem and they alerted the authorities, according to Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper.
Tibet independence
The factory owner reportedly told police the emblems had been ordered from outside China, and he did not know that they stood for an independent Tibet.
Workers who had grown suspicious checked the meaning of the flag by going online.
Thousands of flags had already been packed for shipping.
Police believe that some may already have been sent overseas, and could appear in Hong Kong during the Olympic torch relay there this week.
The authorities have now stepped up the inspection of cars heading to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and onwards to Hong Kong.
The Olympic torch is due to tour Hong Kong on Friday. It will then travel to a series of cities in mainland China before reaching Beijing for the start of the Olympic Games in August.
Its progress around the world has been marked by pro-Tibet demonstrations in several cities - including Paris, London and San Francisco.
Rallies began in the main Tibetan city of Lhasa on 10 March, led by Buddhist monks.
Over the following week protests spread and became violent - particularly in Lhasa, where ethnic Chinese were targeted and shops were burnt down.
Beijing cracked down on the protesters with force, sending in hundreds of troops to regain control of the restive areas.
But it has since agreed to resume talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama.

BBC