China, Chinese Taipei and Hungary will contest hosting the 2020 Gymnasiade today ©ISF

Longstanding diplomatic tensions between China and Chinese Taipei will be fully tested here in this Sardinian resort tomorrow as they stand as rival bidders, along with Hungary, to host the International School Sport Federation’s (ISF) 2020 Gymnasiade.

For the ISF, which is undergoing dynamic changes under the Presidency of Laurent Petrynka, this will be the first big voting occasion for what is viewed as the jewel in the international school sports crown, and the drama of the decision will be captured by the Olympic and the Chinese National television channels.

Twenty votes from members of the ISF Executive Committee will decide whether Jinjiang in China, Taoyuan in Chinese Taipei or Budapest in Hungary will host the Gymnasiade that follows next year’s staging in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, the first time this event has been held in Africa since its debut in 1974.

Chinese Taipei - a politically acceptable name for Taiwan, where the Kuomingtang party formed a government-in-exile in 1949 after being forced out by the Communist Party during the Chinese Civil War - hosted this summer’s Universiade, although the Opening Ceremony was marked by protests that were reported to have been over local pension reforms.

China, which refuses to recognise its offshore island as an independent state, entered individuals for the Universiade but did not take part in the Opening Ceremony.

The multi-sport Gymnasiade, organised every two years by the International School Sport Federation, is an increasingly high-profile event and is due to be held in Africa for the first time next year ©ISF
The multi-sport Gymnasiade, organised every two years by the International School Sport Federation, is an increasingly high-profile event and is due to be held in Africa for the first time next year ©ISF

In 2014 China allowed Chinese Taipei to host the ISF Badminton Championships.

But when Chinese Taipei threw its cap into the ring for the 2020 Gymnasiade following the original application by Budapest, China - which hosted the Gymnasiade in Shanghai in 1998 - responded by putting forward its own bid.

The seriousness of the Chinese bid has been underlined by the high level of attendees here, who include the Chinese Ambassador to Italy, Li Rui Yu, and the Vice-Minister of Education, Tian Xue Jin.

Chinese Taipei will have their own Vice-Minister of Education present, Kao An Pang.

Budapest’s bid will be spearheaded by the chief executive for Hungarian School Sport, Balazs Radics.

The Gymnasiade is an international multi-sport event gathering 4,000 young people from all around the world not only to compete with each other in multiple disciplines but mainly to share and enhance the main values of ISF based on belief that sport is a prevailing tool for the promotion of mutual understanding, peace and tolerance and can greatly contribute to the physical, social and intellectual development of youngsters.