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Taiwan keeps to marching orders

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Taiwan's team was the 24th to enter the stadium last night under the marching order set by the Beijing Olympic committee.

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Waving small Chinese Taipei Olympic flags, 56 of the 80 Taiwanese athletes, clad in dark suits, made their entry after the Japanese team.

There were no surprise actions, such as Taiwanese athletes or spectators waving the Taiwanese flag, which would have been a violation of the Olympic Charter. The island is officially known as Chinese Taipei by the International Olympic Committee, and the team can use only the Olympic flag.

Kuomintang leader Wu Poh-hsiung, invited by President Hu Jintao to attend the opening, waved at the Taiwanese team as it marched past him. The Taiwanese team marched ahead of the Central African Republic and Hong Kong.

Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party had accused Beijing of trying to use the new order to create the impression that Taiwan, like Hong Kong, was a part of the People's Republic. It demanded that the Taiwanese team boycott the ceremony to protest against what it said was the central government belittling the island.

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Taiwan used to be grouped under the 'T' section in a 1981 Olympic protocol based on alphabetical order, which meant there was considerable distance between teams from the island and the mainland.

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