THE CHINESE PARADIGM: CHINA, TAIWAN, AND THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE IN THE COLD WAR

Abstract

This paper examines the complex relationship between China (the People's Republic of China), Taiwan (the Republic of China), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the period from 1949 to 1984. Through an analysis of historical sources, diplomatic documents, and relevant academic literature, the paper demonstrates how sport — particularly the Olympic movement — became a key arena of struggle for international legitimacy and national identity. The "two Chinas" question was not merely a diplomatic problem; it evolved into a primary challenge to the Olympic principle of universality and political neutrality. The paper shows how sport — and the Olympic movement in particular — had been one of the important instruments of Chinese modernization, nation-building, and diplomatic struggle for international legitimacy since the late nineteenth century. The historical roots of China's relationship with sport are examined, including the debut at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Beginning with the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games, when the dispute known as the "two Chinas" question emerged, the paper chronologically traces the crisis surrounding the relationship between the PRC and Taiwan within the international Olympic movement, in the context of their mutual struggle for legitimacy, international recognition, and the delegitimization of the opposing side. Drawing on the minutes of IOC sessions, the paper reconstructs the emergence of the Rome Formula of 1960, the Montreal crisis of 1976, and the Nagoya settlement of 1979–1981. A dedicated chapter is separate to "ping-pong" diplomacy.