China welcomes the participation of Taiwanese compatriots in the events of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics despite the tense relations between the island and the mainland, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokes-man for the Taiwan Affairs Office in the Chinese State Council, said on Wednesday.
“We welcome the participation of Taiwanese compatriots in the events associated with the Olym-pic Winter Games in Beijing, and we hope that compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait will meet in Beijing and will share the enthusiasm and joy of the Winter Olympics,” Ma Xiaoguang said at a press briefing.
Despite not being recognized by the Interna-tional Olympic Committee as a sovereign state, Taiwan will take part in the Games as an autono-mous team under the banner of Chinese Taipei.
The 2022 Winter Olympics will take place in Beijing from February 4-20. The Winter Paralym-pics will be held in the Chinese capital from March 4-13.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. —APP
