The goals of my dissertation were to explore the role that sports diplomacy plays in Taiwan’s foreign policy. I also wanted to show the importance of sport in Taiwan's foreign policy as one of the important elements for establishing good relations with other countries. So I asked myself three research questions. The first question concerns the role that sports diplomacy plays in establishing Taiwan’s ties with foreign countries. In the second question, I was interested in how Taiwan is gaining ground in the international arena through sports activities and what problems they are facing along the way. The third question is whether Taiwan can achieve its foreign policy goals through sports diplomacy. To find answers to this, I relied primarily on professional literature and internet resources. I then went through several case studies, analyzed what role sports diplomacy actually plays in Taiwan, and answered the three research questions. I have found that sport has always been of great political importance in Taiwan. It was first influenced by colonial Japan, then by the KMT government. Both used sport as a means of propaganda. The important role of sport then continued to be maintained and Taiwan has expressed its disagreement with the organizers of the Olympics regarding the official naming since the end of the Chinese Civil War, when relations with the PRC deteriorated significantly, by implementing negative sports diplomacy. In the 1960s, however, Taiwanese authorities achieved a symbolic victory as they represented the entire territory of China at the Olympics, thus fulfilling their political goals. I have come to the realization that Taiwan has, through sports diplomacy, established contacts with senior political representatives in the past, thus partly achieving foreign policy goals, despite Chinese pressure, proving the importance of the role of sports diplomacy. Despite Taiwan’s great efforts, however, establishing official diplomatic contacts with the help of sports diplomacy is now much more difficult as Chinese pressure grows. The PRC is also preventing Taiwan from hosting major international sporting events, and if those were to happen, the Chinese government would regard them as a step towards Taiwanese independence, which it strongly opposes. Problems are also present in Taiwan itself, as had been shown with an unsuccessful referendum on changing Taiwan's official name at international competitions.
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