Earlier, I had visited a rather long-windedly-named museum, and noted a strange flag in the special Olympics exhibit:
Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese AggressionI have made some progress in understanding the situation, thanks for the “Concerning China” (a PDF posted by the LA 84 Foundation) and the wikipedia articles, “Chinese Taipei” and “Chinese Taipei Olympic Flag.”
Here is a brief diplomatic history of the Olympic Committees of the Chinas. Of course, there are many other histories of the names of the Chinas, some of which are rather photogenic:
But for now: The Names of the Chinas in the Olympics, 1936-1989!
1936 Berlin Games: KMT participates
1945-1946: Olympics receives Chinese IOC Committee headquarted in KMT Shanghai
1946-1949: Olympics receives Chinese IOC Committee headquartered in KMT Nanking
1949-1951: Olympics receives Chinese IOC Committee headquartered in CCP Nanking
1952 Oslo Session: No KMT or CCP participation
1952 Helsinki Session: Olympics refer to “Chinese People’s Republic” and “State of Taiwan”
1952 Games: CCP participates
1953: CCP establishes a National Olympic Committee
1954: Olympics recognizes CCP “Olympic Committee of the Chinese Republic”, alongisde KMT “Chinese Olympic Committee”
1956 Melbourne Games: KMT boycotts
1957: Olympics renames “Olympic Committee of the Chinese Republic” to to “Olympic Committee of the People’s Democratic Republic of China”
1958: CCP begins boycotting Olympics
1959: Olmpics expels KMT “Chinese Olympic Committee”
1960 Rome Games: KMT “Olympic Committee of the Republic of China,” under the banner “Formsa”
1964 Tokyo Games: KMT “Olympic Committee of the Republic of China,” under the banner “ROC”
1968 Olympic Games: KMT “Olympic Committee of the Republic of China,” under the banner “The Team of the Republic of China”
1979: Olympics recognizes KMT “National Olympic Committee of Chinese Taipei” under the banner “Chinese Tapei”and CCP “Chinese Olympic Committee.” KMT sues Olympics
1980 KMT loses court case in Switerland. Moscow Games: KMT boycotts
1989: KMT “”National Olympic Committee of Chinese Taipei”" and CCP “Chinese Olympic Committee” both agree to translate “Chinese Taipei” as “中华台北,” meaning “(Culturally) Chinese Taipei”
Since then, Olympic Peace has reigned between the Chinas and their names.
