Getty/Lintao Zhang
Taiwan's Premier Su Tseng-chang has ordered an investigation into the actions of Taiwanese speed skater Huang Yu-ting, who was shown in a video to be wearing the China national team's uniform prior to the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In a now-deleted video clip posted on her social media accounts in January, Huang could be seen practicing in the uniform, which she said was a gift from a friend on the Chinese team.
Her actions came under heavy criticism due to ongoing tensions between Taiwan and Beijing, which have been exacerbated by the staging of the Winter Olympics.
Taiwan's Sports Administration said it would not punish Huang, paving the way for her to compete in Beijing, but Premier Su has now suggested that could change.
According to Reuters, in a statement made on Saturday, Su's office said the premier believed Huang's actions were "extremely inappropriate" and wants a full investigation by the Education Ministry and the Sports Administration.
Su's office also said the premier wants Huang to be given an "appropriate punishment."
Taiwan's Presidential Office added in a separate statement that it supported both the investigation and the punishment.
"Members of the national team represent the country in competitions, and there should not be any controversial words or deeds that damage the nation's honour," President Tsai Ing-wen's spokesperson Xavier Chang said, per Reuters.
In perhaps the strongest public statement about the video of Huang, one Taiwanese lawmaker, Chiu Chih-wei accused her on Facebook of wearing the "uniform of the enemy," per the South China Morning Post.
"Huang doesn't give a damn about Taiwan where she was born and raised - she embraces China," he added.
Getty/Alex Goodlett
Huang was one of only four athletes competing for the Taiwanese team, which competes as Chinese Tapei at the Olympics, in Beijing.
She carried the flag in the opening ceremony and went on to compete in both the women's 1000 meter and 1500 meter speed skating events, but did not medal in either.
In response to the criticism she faced online after the footage of her practicing in a Chinese team uniform went viral, Huang said: "Sport is sport and in the world of sports, we do not differentiate nationalities.
"After the Games, we all are good friends."
"For me, it was just the friendship," she said, according to Reuters. "She gave it to me, the suit, and I just wore it when I was practicing. I didn't mean anything.
"I posted the video because I just want to tell everyone that I go to the Olympics. I am happy with that."
National identity is a highly sensitive issue in Taiwan. China regards the island as part of its own territory, even though Taiwan has been self-ruling for decades. Many Taiwanese people consider themselves independent of Beijing.
After the Chinese Communist Party won its civil war against the Nationalist Party in 1949, the latter fled to Taiwan, where it subsequently enjoyed two decades of international support as the government of "Free China."
During this period, the mainland was not represented at the Olympics, with the only Chinese team competing coming from Taiwan.
Since the United Nations and United States first switched their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing in 1979, however, Taiwan has only been able to compete in the Olympics as a regional branch of the Chinese Olympic Committee known as Chinese Taipei. Taipei is the largest city in Taiwan.
