Invading Taiwan using Olympics Torch

The Beijing Olympics organizers have warned Taiwan, a virtually independent state that could not get a UN membership because of political reasons, that if it does not allow the Olympics Torch to pass through, then Taiwanese atheletes will not be able to participate in Beijing Olympics in 2008.

The organizer proposed that the torch should arrive in Taiwan from Vietnam on April 30, 2008. Then the torch will go to Hong Kong and Macau, two cities occupied by China since 1997 and 1999. Many Taiwanese have pushed for a route that passes Taiwan via Asian countries other than China.

According to the Olympics Charter, the Olympic Games are hosted by cities and participants are individual athletes, instead of individual nations. Using the Olympics torch as a political threat to force individual athletes out of the Olympics is a major violation of the Olympics Charter!

Reference
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OLY_BEIJING_TORCH_RELAY?SITE=PAGRE&SECTION=SPORTS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-06-23-11-11-06