For a few years, Taiwan, a minute island sandwiched between Japan and the Philippines, has faced turmoil over its political station. From 1971, when the United International locations expelled Taiwan and modified their seat with China, to the most contemporary predominant are residing-fire drills surrounding the island, Taiwan’s station as an self sustaining nation is repeatedly challenged despite having its bag passport, forex, and democratically-elected authorities.
However, in the freediving world, Taiwan remained largely unnoticed till Vertical Blue 2021, a prestigious world document-station competition organized by world champion freediver William Trubridge. It used to be the important thing time Taiwanese athletes participated, so William positioned the Taiwanese flag on the livestream, oblivious of the downside between Taiwan and China. Handiest after a Chinese partner instructed him that the competition livestream in China had been interrupted on account of someone recognizing the Taiwanese flag did he clutch the flag from the livestream upon quiz.
“I knowing we bear been doing the execrable thing, so I removed it,” William suggested DeeperBlue.com. “Then I started having a see into it myself and seen that – hang on, Taiwan is a sovereign nation, it’s self sustaining, and there’s no the clarification why these athletes shouldn’t be in a predicament to compete below their nation’s legit flag. So we assign it attend in.” And so, the Taiwanese flag reappeared on Vertical Blue 2021’s livestream on the 4th day of the competition and remained there till the final day. While this used to be a minute victory to celebrate for Taiwanese athletes, they weren’t attentive to the harsh fact that will face them handiest two months later.
The following is an investigation into what came about over six months, including huge-ranging interviews with those directly suffering from it. We also interviewed AIDA representatives and several sources shut to the events that unfolded to search out out the background of the events that unfolded and why they took place.
Erasing Taiwan: The Elimination of Taiwan’s National Flag at the 27th AIDA Depth World Championship in 2021
Mia Hou, a Taiwanese freediving athlete and numerous nationwide document holder finished her 55m (217ft) Fixed Weight dive accurate on September 28th, 2021, at the 27th AIDA Depth World Championship. Basking in the glory of a fresh nationwide document for Taiwan, she relaxed on the boat with the diversified Taiwanese athletes to search out out about her dive on the YouTube competition livestream. However, as Mia watched her dive, she seen that a broken image icon modified the red, white, and blue Taiwanese flag next to her name. Furthermore, the acronym for Taiwan, ‘TWN,’ had been modified to ‘TW.’
These lacking parts bear been on the conceal for the length of the important thing six competition days. Mia felt empty as she stared at the broken image icon where her nation’s flag desires to be for the length of her dive, and that vacancy slowly morphed right into a feeling of nettle that used to be all too familiar to her. This used to be no accident. After all, it completely wouldn’t be the important thing time Taiwan’s worldwide station has been suppressed.
When requested by DeeperBlue.com about their version of the events, AIDA International – a freediving federation, competition organizer, and training procedure – responded by declaring that they “bought a quiz from the Chinese authorities to clutch it superior before the begin of the streaming explaining that Taiwan is now not officially is named a nation and in addition that we are now not respecting the AIDA rules to make employ of the IOC as a reference for the worldwide locations represented in the competition. The choice used to be taken by the board participants most modern on the place at the serious moment and later confirmed by your entire Board. The leisure of the Board and the athletes from Taiwan bear been consulted with the important thing opportunity later that day.”
However, in accordance to Mia, AIDA International did not employ the initiative to hunt the recommendation of with Taiwanese athletes. The participants from Taiwan had to prefer the matter themselves at the nightly meeting between the competition staff and athletes.
AIDA International President Alexandru Russu stood at the front of the group and acknowledged that the Chinese authorities’s firewall robotically minimize off the are residing broadcast for viewers in China. He later requested Taiwanese athletes whether they wanted to deal with the nationwide flag place and nation name blank or employ the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) term for Taiwan, ‘Chinese Taipei,’ with the IOC’s Chinese Taipei flag.
The Taiwanese crew unanimously declared that they’d moderately bear a blank place than be forced to make employ of the IOC’s Chinese Taipei flag.
AIDA International made a short public apology to Taiwan on their legit web place declaring, “we learn from our errors, and we`ll predicament diversified streams from now on to prevent this from going on again.”
This means that AIDA International knowing to be having a livestream of the competition that included the Taiwanese flag and nation name on streaming sites equivalent to YouTube while providing an edited livestream, accessible to Chinese viewers, that does now not consist of Taiwan’s name and flag.
Chinese viewers would possibly perchance furthermore survey the 27th AIDA World Championship’s livestream on account of Chinese wetsuit firm BESTDIVE sponsoring the tournament and coordinating the livestream in China (YouTube is banned in China), which is presumably how the Chinese authorities modified into attentive to the presence of Taiwan’s nationwide flag. AIDA International yet again selected BESTDIVE to livestream this year’s 28th AIDA World Championship tournament to Chinese viewers.
AIDA International acknowledged on Fb that “the appearance of the flag on are residing results has minimize down the are residing streaming for 400.000+ viewers there” as the cause late their removal of the Taiwanese flag. When requested by DeeperBlue.com how AIDA International calculated that there bear been 400,000 Chinese viewers, equipped the screenshot below, which looks to be taken from the streaming place Huya.com.
DeeperBlue.com would possibly perchance furthermore now not independently command this figure as the video is no longer accessible on the online place.
In response to DeeperBlue.com asking if AIDA International would bear two separate streams in the extinguish, they acknowledged, “From the knowledge we bear, there is no proper support in doing so, and for the moment, we don’t bear this kind of plans.” However, one would possibly perchance furthermore argue that two separate streams would support athletes love Mia Hou and hundreds of diversified Taiwanese freedivers and their worldwide supporters.
As Taiwan’s flag persisted to be absent in the next days of the competition, the final day used to be a welcome surprise for Taiwanese livestream viewers and worldwide supporters. Mia performed her Fixed Weight No Fins dive to 38m (125ft) and proudly held Taiwan’s nationwide flag up in the water in corpulent see of the camera and the freediving world. In Mia’s words, “After I chase in a foreign nation, I symbolize Taiwan, and I desire it to be viewed.” Furthermore, as viewed below, bigger than two-thirds of the competing athletes’ nationwide flags bear been removed by their quiz to stand in team spirit and explicit their enhance for Taiwan.
These events made their contrivance onto diversified news reports in Taiwan, and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen herself thanked the worldwide locations that stood in enhance of Taiwan. AIDA International’s legit Fb group used to be also flooded with outraged comments at taking away the flag, while the competition livestream are residing chat used to be littered with Taiwan nationwide flag emojis.
Transient background on China-Taiwan relations
To attain why the disappearance of the Taiwan nationwide flag is so indispensable, we must see at historical past for working out. While the historical past of China-Taiwan relations is prolonged and complicated, the short version is that communist Mainland China (the Folks’s Republic of China, or ‘PRC’) views democratic Taiwan (officially is named the Republic of China, or ‘ROC’) as a breakaway province. As a consequence, China continually guarantees to ‘unify’ Taiwan with China and continually states that Taiwan is for the time being working below a ‘one nation, two programs’ framework while final a portion of China’s sovereign territory, otherwise is named the ‘One China’ protection.
China has a prolonged historical past of pressuring worldwide locations to adhere to this protection by refusing to set diplomatic ties and punishing corporations by taking away their licenses and suspending operations except they ask for forgiveness to China and give an explanation for that Taiwan is now not an self sustaining nation. A most modern, smartly-known example of an apology some would possibly perchance furthermore salvage now not easy to survey is John Cena declaring his regrets to Chinese electorate for calling Taiwan a nation for the length of a Hastily & Mad 9 interview amidst backlash from Chinese netizens.
However, a 2021 gaze performed by Taiwan’s Focal level Look Be taught of 1,072 Taiwanese adults 20 years and older exhibits that handiest 11.1% enhance unification with China, while 46.6% enhance Taiwan’s independence and 26.4% desire to deal with the station quo. Furthermore, a extra most modern ballotby the Taiwan Current Constitution Foundation stumbled on that 89.9% of its electorate employ into consideration themselves Taiwanese and over 64% of Taiwanese are involving to transfer to battle to protect their nation.
The Aftermath: Occasions After the 27th AIDA World Championship
AIDA International’s responses on Fb
Following the removal of Taiwan’s nationwide flag at the World Championship, the AIDA International legit Fb group bought an overwhelming quantity of comments with the mass majority supporting Taiwan.
AIDA International started by posting questionable responses to a pair of comments that bear been later deleted (glimpse an example below) without any legit clarification. AIDA International gave DeeperBlue.com the next cause late deletion: “Pondering what we’re discovering out relating to the Taiwan downside and our lack of competence on the matter, it’s extra acceptable to refrain from all social media comments and in addition clutch the old ones.”
No public acknowledgment of the deleted comments followed.
Introducing Machine D: AIDA International pays for marketing and marketing and marketing products and services
Donny Mac, a dilapidated AIDA teacher, publicly accused AIDA International of the employ of a marketing and marketing and marketing company called Machine D to “censor any comments or questions that assign AIDA in a atrocious light.” One other AIDA member requested, “We’re paying to bear our questions removed?” and further mentioned that he has had comments removed relating to Taiwan. AIDA International has confirmed to DeeperBlue.com that Machine D is managing AIDA International’s social media and that they are certainly a contractor – now not a volunteer. AIDA International is notorious for inquiring for volunteers to entire unpaid projects.
It looks that the fresh admin from Machine D used to be active around May maybe well well 19th, 2021, at the earliest, effectively before the removal of the Taiwanese flag from the 27th AIDA World Championship. When requested what the guidelines are that social media posts are moderated on, AIDA International said to examine the guidelines directly on the Fb group web page. At the time of this writing, the guidelines are as follows: “be kind and courteous, no abhor speech, bullying, or defamatory comments, persist with the subject, no spam, no marketing and marketing, admire group privateness, and talk to enhance.” Below are examples of posts that had comments modified into off or bear been blocked from posting.
When DeeperBlue.com requested AIDA International why AIDA Taiwan’s Fb submit relating to their standing with Ukraine used to be declined, AIDA International acknowledged that it “is a purely political stand without a relation to freediving – and here’s a freediving group.”
When DeeperBlue.com requested AIDA International why AIDA Taiwan’s begin letter of relate submit’s comments used to be modified into off, AIDA International acknowledged that it’s “extremely political and from old abilities, such public debates has excessive dangers of consequences at the foreign relations stage.”
AIDA Sweden makes an legit complaint towards AIDA International
AIDA Sweden made an legit complaint towards AIDA International below the costs of discrimination towards athletes in accordance with their nationality and accused AIDA International of acting in violation of AIDA statutes’ targets. The Disciplinary Committee (DC), which entails 5 folk, rejected the payment introduced by AIDA Sweden and referenced the guidelines relating to the AIDA World Championships, which recount that “the International Olympic Committee (IOC) must survey the nation.” It desires to be smartly-known that even though AIDA International’s rules and regulations reference the IOC (AIDA International also follows WADA rules), the freediving federation is now not known by nor certain to either group. In consequence, AIDA International even requested the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) to make employ of the IOC’s Chinese Taipei flag in competition but used to be denied as AIDA International is now not known by the CTOC.
When DeeperBlue.com requested AIDA International why the statutes list the IOC when AIDA International has no formal relationship with the IOC, their response used to be as follows: “The reference old by AIDA in the old version of 4.1.3.4 used to be the United International locations (UN) and it used to be modified to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a pair of years in the past for allowing extra participants all by asserting an external reference (on account of AIDA’s lack of competence in the worldwide relations). Before the flag incident from 2021, AIDA used to be now not even attentive to the variation between ‘Republic of China’ and ‘Folks’s Republic of China’ and the worldwide relations remain out of the scope of our affiliation. In this area, we can handiest be aware external references love our governments, UN or IOC.”
However, AIDA International does employ which IOC rules to place into effect. As an instance, at the 27th AIDA World Championship, Russia competed below its nation acronym (RUS) and with its nationwide flag displayed, even if they bear been and are for the time being banned from taking part in world championship events below the name ‘Russia’ and their corresponding nationwide flag (they must employ ‘ROC’ as an different). AIDA International responded to DeeperBlue.com’s quiz for statement on this downside by declaring, “As AIDA has no specialised division, nor competence in the worldwide relations, before the ROC flag incident, all these topics bear been simply unnoticed and we are superior initiating now to pay for this past lack of knowledge.”
In the attend of the Scenes: AIDA Assembly Email Discussions and Fb Messages Concerning AIDA Taiwan’s Impart
DeeperBlue.com bought a replica of e-mails from a source exchanged between AIDA Taiwan, the AIDA Assembly, the AIDA Board, Co-founding father of AIDA and most modern AIDA Board member Claude Chapuis, and AIDA China manual Aolin Wang directly after the 27th AIDA World Championship dated between September 29th, 2021, to March 19th, 2022. The document also summarized deepest messages between AIDA International and AIDA Taiwan negotiators. It is doubtless you’ll maybe furthermore see the entirety of the email exchanges and deepest chat summaries here.
Summary of the e-mails and deepest Fb messages
AIDA Taiwan started the email alternate with the AIDA Board and AIDA Assembly by expressing downside over taking away the Taiwanese flag at the 27th AIDA World Championship. While the AIDA Board responded with ideal recommendation from their licensed legitimate relating to there being no ideal basis for the employ of the ROC flag to define Taiwan, AIDA Taiwan expressed that the perfect recommendation contained errors and would supply their ideal recommendation. In the interval in-between, they equipped a letter of recommendation from a professor of worldwide politics. After the AIDA Disciplinary Committee rejected AIDA Sweden’s charges towards AIDA International, AIDA Taiwan submitted two motions for a exclusive vote relating to their corpulent membership station with the moral to show their nation name and flag, along with a instructed modification to clutch the guideline declaring the IOC must survey the nation in the AIDA statues. AIDA Taiwan later equipped a ideal concept letter by a licensed legitimate specializing in worldwide law.
Rapidly after, Claude Chapuis instructed Assembly participants that AIDA Taiwan is now not a corpulent member recount since no vote used to be stumbled on, and he “supposes it’s a mistake on the AIDA webpage.” AIDA Taiwan argued that they bought a confirmation supply from the AIDA Board in July indicating their corpulent membership and inquired as to why their membership station came into quiz while discussing member rights. The AIDA Board later updated that they bear been contacted by Chinese authorities and requested for a meeting and bear been making willing for it, and quoted, “We rely upon that this can furthermore enable AIDA to proceed its activities in China without any difficulties and even fabricate further recognition very well-known for the local building.”
Later, in deepest Fb message exchanges between the negotiators of AIDA Taiwan and AIDA International, AIDA Taiwan conceded to parts relating to flag and nation naming in competitions. Both events persisted to discuss how you are going to be in a predicament to catch AIDA Taiwan a corpulent member recount. After AIDA International met with the Chinese authorities, Taiwan’s name in AIDA’s Education Online Machine (EOS) used to be modified to ‘Chinese Taipei (Taiwan Islands)’ with out a dialogue at some stage in the AIDA Assembly and without a announcement. The AIDA International negotiator privately wrote that there wasn’t a different after meeting with the Chinese authorities. In an email to Assembly participants, AIDA Taiwan equipped minutes from a meeting where the AIDA Board acknowledged, “The insist dialog between Chinese authority and AIDA board makes the board judge they will now not lend a hand the term ‘Taiwan’ to refer Taiwanese in all legit channel. The obedience is very indispensable for Chinese authority when AIDA catch freediving in China.”
Meanwhile, in deepest messages, the negotiator of AIDA International assign forth a thought to catch AIDA Taiwan a corpulent member recount, with the first step being to clutch the ‘1 AIDA corpulent member per nation’ stipulation in the AIDA statutes. As this vote used to be assign forth on behalf of AIDA France manual Claude Chapuis, AIDA China manual, Aolin Wang warned in an email, “Any dialogue or vote concerning to territory field will without downside develop to be complicated past your creativeness and this can furthermore consequence in if fact be told atrocious downside. Your plan to ease the administration route of of AIDA can develop to be the very opposite.”
AIDA International’s vote casting route of
AIDA International suggested DeeperBlue.com that AIDA France’s proposal did not salvage the enhance of the member worldwide locations for initiating the particular vote (no lower than 20% of the active Assembly participants is required). At the time of this writing, there bear been no further AIDA Assembly meetings relating to the downside.
In response to AIDA International’s statute 9.4.1 Special Votes, “a exclusive vote of the Assembly will be called for by the President along with one diversified Officer, by a majority of the Executive Board, or by the written quiz to AIDA of now not lower than twenty percent of Participants.” Though Claude Chapuis proposed the vote to interchange the statutes on behalf of AIDA France (which wanted 20% of AIDA Assembly participants to agree to galvanize an accurate vote on the matter), it didn’t necessarily bear to occur this style. After the begin of the battle in Ukraine, AIDA International initiated a easy public vote relating to the IOC’s recommendation to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from taking part in competitions. This means that the vote to clutch the ‘1 AIDA corpulent member per nation’ stipulation in the AIDA statutes would possibly perchance furthermore bear also been initiated straightaway as an different of proposing to deal with a vote and ready for a consensus. AIDA International also failed to catch the vote to interchange the statutes public and visible to all AIDA freedivers in announce that they would possibly perchance furthermore submit their votes to their respective AIDA Nationals.
Public responses to Taiwan’s AIDA Member station and nation name change
In mid-November of 2021, AIDA International downgraded AIDA Taiwan’s station in the AIDA Assembly from a corpulent member recount to an observer and altered Taiwan’s nation name of their Education Online Machine (EOS) to ‘Chinese Taipei (Taiwan Islands)’ and later to ‘Chinese Taipei, Taiwan’ without a legit announcement to the final public. It will be indispensable to unique that the name ‘Chinese Taipei’ is handiest old for participation in sports and worldwide events, equivalent to the Olympics. It is now not an legit name for Taiwan to delineate geographical predicament or nationality, which incessantly is the ‘Republic of China.’ AIDA International used to be made attentive to this fact; nonetheless, the most contemporary ‘Chinese Taipei, Taiwan’ naming below the ‘Nationality(passport)’ option stays on the legit web place at the time of this article’s writing.
AIDA’s response to DeeperBlue.com’s quiz for statement used to be as follows: “Republic of China” is now not old by any worldwide group on the planet and it can be complicated for our group because, most of us don’t know the variation between Republic Of China and Folks’s Republic Of China. Given the explicit downside of Taiwan, AIDA is striving for inclusiveness and makes the compromises imposed by the worldwide relations love your entire diversified worldwide group on the planet build.”
AIDA Taiwanese instructors bear been timorous at the adjustments. One teacher requested in a deepest AIDA Instructors Fb group how the nationality of AIDA participants will also be modified to ‘Chinese Taipei’ without consent. Upon posting, AIDA International commented a mature response that will also be viewed on posts inquiring for technical aid: “Helpful ship your quiz to [email protected]” Later on, they modified into off the commenting for the submit.
AIDA China manual Aolin Wang responds to the Taiwanese flag downside at the 27th AIDA World Championship (set off the English captions for translation)
President Tsai’s social media submit thanking worldwide locations for taking away their flags to stand in team spirit with Taiwan precipitated AIDA China manual Aolin Wang to reply to the downside. After relating to President Tsai disrespectfully in Mandarin as “so-called Tsai,” he gave a short historical past of the implementation of the Nagoya decision and concluded that “the improvement of AIDA desires China, and freediving also desires China on the realm stage.” In fact, in accordance to AIDA International’s 2020 Monetary Assertion, while China accounted for 133,482EUR of earnings that year, the contribution from the mighty smaller island of Taiwan used to be 113,550EUR.
It does seem that AIDA International is skittish relating to the aptitude future loss of Chinese training earnings and is willing to sacrifice earnings from Taiwan in the center of. Right here’s one thing many training companies across the diving world are grappling with.
Contemporary Day: Freediving Competitions in 2022
Vertical Blue 2022
As Vertical Blue 2022 approached, AIDA sent out a ruling to competition organizers declaring that in AIDA events, the Taiwanese flag couldn’t be old.
“We started to take into fable programs around that, and essentially the most obvious contrivance used to be to bear some extra or much less neutral flag. We wanted to explain team spirit with these Taiwanese athletes,” competition organizer William Trubridge suggested DeeperBlue.com. And so the basis of the ‘One Ocean’ flag used to be born by Head of Safety Marco Cosentino.
William designed a easy blue flag with a white circle in the center, with the circle depicting the ‘O’ in ‘ocean.’ “It represents that we are all drops of water in the same ocean. At the cease of the day, it’s superior one planet, one ocean,” said William. He allowed athletes to compete below this flag, which would replace their nationwide flags, and the acronym ‘ONE’ replacing their nation’s legit acronym to stand in team spirit with worldwide locations that bear been assign in an untenable downside, including Ukraine. And so, 20 of the 42 athletes stood united below the ‘One Ocean’ flag.
The 28th AIDA World Championship
On the diversified hand, before the begin of the 28th AIDA World Championship in Burgas, AIDA International particularly requested Taiwanese athletes to command that they’d now not show their nationwide flag, declaring, “All particular particular person freedoms of an particular particular person will be revered to the extent where they don’t intrude with the freedoms of the diversified (bodily or ideal) persons – equivalent to AIDA.” AIDA International responded to DeeperBlue.com’s quiz for statement on the implications of athletes showing the Taiwanese flag by asserting, “Essentially primarily based mostly on the AIDA rules, the implications can chase from a easy warning to disqualification.” And doubtless ample, Taiwanese athletes, including Mia Hou, bear been forced to compete in AIDA competitions this year below the AIDA International flag and ‘TPE’ acronym to deal with faraway from interfering with the “freedoms” of AIDA International.
When requested by DeeperBlue.com whether AIDA International would employ into consideration the employ of a neutral flag equivalent to Vertical Blue 2022’s ‘One Ocean’ flag, AIDA International responded, “We can now not employ into consideration such flag because AIDA is a federation of worldwide locations and by the guidelines, in the WCH the athletes are chosen by their Nationals to symbolize their nation (now not themselves love in Vertical Blue).” And so, at this year’s 29th AIDA World Championship, Taiwanese freedivers Jay Ku and Michael Zhi-Da Ko (who won silver and gold medals of their disciplines, respectively), bear been required to manufacture their victorious dives below the flag of AIDA International.
The predominant photo exhibits Taiwanese athletes posing with the Taiwanese flag off to the aspect of the awards ceremony. The 2d and third photos are from the winner’s podium, where handiest the Taiwanese athletes bear been forbidden from showing their nationwide flag.
Conclusions
We can blueprint several conclusions from the working out equipped above and AIDA International’s responses. First, it’s obvious to see that the Chinese authorities is inserting colossal strain on AIDA International, as evidenced by the letter sent to AIDA International from the International Affairs Liaison Division of the Impart Sports Traditional Administration of China and despite AIDA International’s claim on Fb that “there has now not been any external strain on AIDA to lead these choices.” Industrial pressures relating to the expansion and expansion of AIDA freediving training in China also doubtless factors into the decision-making route of, which is evidenced by AIDA International’s assertion, “We rely upon this can furthermore enable AIDA to proceed its activities in China without any difficulties and even fabricate further recognition very well-known for the local building” in an email relating to a meeting with Chinese authorities.
However, AIDA International stays a Swiss non-profit group, and its tasks are to the equal rights and freedoms of its participants, now to not their doubtless enhance in China. AIDA International would possibly perchance furthermore even employ into consideration keen itself into the ranks of a firm love the Girls folk’s Tennis Association and diversified colossal multinational corporations that pulled faraway from China and their calls for as an different of placating them.
And so, we lastly return to the subject of AIDA International publicly turning to their freedivers and asking them to vote on the downside of banning Russian and Belarusian electorate from taking part in competitions. While the station of Russian and Belarusian athletes is now not the level of curiosity of this dialogue, a pair of questions remain: why didn’t AIDA International be aware this similar logic to Taiwan’s name and flag? Why did they straight and publicly downside a vote on the cease consequence of Russians and Belarusians yet capitulate to the authority of the Chinese authorities late closed doorways?
And doubtless the perfect quiz of all: what ought to restful a non-profit group’s decision-making be in accordance with – enhance or ethics?
