Taipei Taiwan, 2003 NBC Champions

Exactly 2,780 years ago, on the plains of Olympia, the Olympics was held by people who put down their weapons for the duration of athletic contests.

This spirit of loving peace and sportsmanship was later turned into a legend cherished to this date and now glorified - and commercialized - into the current quadrennial Olympic Games.

This year the Olympic Games returned to their birthplace in what is now Greece and 2004, this year the whole world is going back to the Games' birthplace and athletes from all over the globe are performing higher, faster, stronger in Athens, joined by a team from the island country of Taiwan..

Although participating under the unfortunate moniker of "Chinese Taipei," Taiwan athletes are participating in a wide range of events, but the focus of our citizens was firmly on our baseball team, which we hoped could at least earn a place in the semifinals and win a medal.

Goldpanners line up against Taiwan National Team in 2003 NBC Taipei Taiwan

We certainty do not imply that other events are unimportant and are indeed thrilled that Taiwan's women and men archers tallied unprecedented bronze and silver medals, respectively.

But it cannot be denied that baseball is not only the most popular sports in Taiwan, but it has also come to acquire an aura or even mission of restoring Taiwan's national dignity in the wake of numerous dramatic events in the troubled history of our participation in international competitions, including Taiwan's repeated victories in worldwide Little League competition beginning with the moving story of the aborigine Hung Yeh (Red Leaf) Little League team in the 1960s.

Baseball manifested its magic power again during the preliminary Asian competition last November in which Taiwan won a rare place in the Olympic contest by winning the silver medal in the 2003 Asian Championships, thanks in large part to winning a dramatic extra-inning contest with South Korea watched by thousands of supporters in outdoor parks all over Taiwan.

In the Olympic competition itself, baseball fever, at least temporarily, erased rifts between "pan-green" and "pan-blue" camps that had formed in the wake of the March 20 presidential election.

No matter whether they were aboriginals, mainlanders, Hakkaa or Holo, people all over Taiwan shouted d themselves hoarse in support of Taiwan's baseball team in Athens, even though the narrow 3 - 4 loss to Japan put an end to our baseball medal hopes.

Symbolized by the 10th inning hit by Kao Chih-kang that allowed our team to defeat South Korea and earn a place in the Olympics, the baseball spirit evokes many deep feelings, including a boost in national self - confidence and a release of the fear of exclusion from the international society that has been a part of Taiwan's life since the walkout from the United Nations in October 1971 in the wake of the seating of the People's Republic of China and the subsequent campaign to squeeze Taiwan's international space launched by the Beijing regime that persists to this day.

Taking the words of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, we should remember that the spirit of the Olympics was to foster a philosophy of life in which people can enjoy health and happiness by exercising diligently and setting an excellent paradigm.

This spirit can also match the baseball spirit of Taiwan. Besides the sportsmanship of working hard and pursuing excellence, a baseball team - or a small country - still needs the spirit of teamwork and the determination never to give up.

Despite making some incredible mistakes in the competition, our baseball team still played a good game against Japan's professional all-stars, which has been described by the international media as the strongest team in this competition, forcing the contest into overtime.

Taiwan now urgently needs to regain and cultivate this spirit of solidarity and the determination never to give up in our pursuit of democracy and freedom and to gain our rightful places as a contributing member of the world community.

Although the losses in the Olympic contest have disappointed our baseball fans, the spirit shown by our team and people should provide inspiration for how we can live our lives with solidarity and dignity.

The spirit of baseball tells us how to fight for the future of Taiwan.

But we should also recall at all times that the spirit of baseball game or the Olympics is not only about competition and winning, but also maintaining our honor and sportsmanship.

This remainder is useful for our protracted struggle to overcome Beijing's military threats and diplomatic pressure tactics in international society, even in the field of sports as can be seen from the PRC's lowhanded moves to prevent the appearance of advertisements to promote Taiwan's team - even though the "Chinese Taipei" moniker was used - in Athens.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics promises to be an even more difficult and uneven field for Taiwan and our athletes and we should uphold the spirit of baseball and resolutely move forward and maintain our dignity no matter what trials we face.