A local man stands near official mascot dolls of Beijing Olympics, Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini, on sale at a store in Shanghai, China Thursday, July 24, 2008. Shanghai will host nine men's soccer matches and three women's matches, and more than 440,000 tickets have been sold so far, Vice Mayor Zhao Wen told the state-run Xinhua News Agency in a report.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Taiwan opposes Olympics name change
A local man stands near official mascot dolls of Beijing Olympics, Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini, on sale at a store in Shanghai, China Thursday, July 24, 2008. Shanghai will host nine men's soccer matches and three women's matches, and more than 440,000 tickets have been sold so far, Vice Mayor Zhao Wen told the state-run Xinhua News Agency in a report.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
TAIPEI, Taiwan—Some Taiwanese lawmakers have called for boycotting the Beijing Olympics unless a dispute over the island's name is resolved.
Several lawmakers of the ruling Nationalist Party say Thursday that China must not attempt to change the name under which the island will compete in next month's Olympics to suggest that Taiwan is part of China.
Chinese officials want to address the team as -- "Zhongguo Taipei" -- but Taiwan rejects it because "Zhongguo" means China.
Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing continues to claim the island and says it will attack if Taipei moves to break from the mainland.
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