Torch route agreed, says Taipei

Taiwan and the mainland are close to a deal for the Olympic torch to pass through the island on its way to Beijing, a senior Taiwanese official said yesterday.

Chen Ming-tong, the chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the island's top mainland policy planner, said the two sides had reached a consensus on the issue.

'After close to a month of negotiation, [Olympic committees on both sides] have reached a basic consensus and we hope Beijing can quickly sign the agreement to finalise the deal,' Mr Chen said.

A spokesman for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games said talks were ongoing and Beijing was still waiting for a response from Taipei. Mr Chen said this was 'far from fact'.

According to the route announced by Beijing in April, the Olympic torch was to pass from Vietnam to Taipei and then to Hong Kong and Macau. But in July, Taipei rejected the planned route, believing it was deliberately designed to create the impression that the island is a part of the mainland. The island's government said the route ranked Taiwan as an area equal to the mainland's two special administrative regions.

Taipei threatened to boycott the Games if Beijing insisted on identifying the island's team as 'China, Taipei'. After negotiations, the two sides agreed the description should be 'Taipei', MAC officials said yesterday.