A mainland official on Wednesday urged Taiwan authorities to
accept the itinerary for the 2008 Olympic torch relay and allow the
torch to pass through Taipei.
Li Weiyi, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State
Council, said the mainland hopes Taiwan will respect the consensus
reached between the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008
Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee
(CTOC) and acknowledge the relay route.
The relay route has already been approved by the International
Olympic Committee.
The BOCOG announced on April 26 that the 2008 Olympic torch
relay will pass through 135 cities all over the world. The planned
137,000-kilometer route includes a stop at Taipei before the torch
arrives in Hong Kong, Macao, and a score of Chinese mainland
cities.
But some of Taiwan's pro-independence officials immediately
rejected the route, claiming the plan "belittles" Taiwan.
Li said the BOCOG had shown full respect for the CTOC during the
discussions and that CTOC chairman Tsai Chen-wei confirmed the
relay route on March 27.
The spokesman said Taiwan authorities' breach of the consensus
is politically motivated. "The notion that Taiwan is in some way
being 'belittled' just does not stand up to scrutiny," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2007)