DPP's sport-related tricks to seek 'Taiwan independence' are futile: mainland spokesperson

BEIJING -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Monday warned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan against taking advantage of sports events to seek "Taiwan independence".

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that any attempt to exploit sports events in pursuit of "Taiwan independence" would lead nowhere but backfire.

Zhu was responding to the DPP authority's recent statements concerning the Tokyo Olympic Games, which opened on Friday.

She pointed out that, in 1979, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) passed a resolution based on the one-China principle in Nagoya, Japan, to deal with the issue of how athletes from the island should participate in the Olympic Games.

Concerning the Chinese Taipei team to the Tokyo Olympic Games, the IOC has followed past practice and made clear the requirements regarding the name and badge they use, she said.

The "Olympic model" is a principle of consensus observed by international sports organizations and sports persons from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, said the spokesperson.

Taiwan is part of China and people on both sides of the Straits are Chinese, Zhu said, expressing her best wishes to the athletes across the Straits in the Tokyo Olympic Games.