From rugby to painting, China using global stage to diminish Taiwan

In May, a Taiwan flag students painted on a statue at an Australian festival was covered by local authorities after Chinese consular officers from in Brisbane reported a "problem."

"The Australian government's agreement with China is that Australia does not recognise Taiwan as a separate country," Margaret Strelow, mayor of Rockhampton in central Queensland, wrote in a statement after the incident.

But officials in Taiwan said the Chinese pressure could be counterproductive, as public resentment towards Beijing runs high.

More than 80 percent of Taiwanese think China's bid to squeeze the island's international space hurts cross-strait ties, an August poll from Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council showed.

"China should think whether such moves would backfire," said Yao Chia-wen, a senior adviser to the president, adding that Beijing's "double-edged sword" could reinforce public support for Tsai's independence-leaning Diplomatic Progressive Party.

Some are ready to challenge China, which has never renounced the use of force against Taiwan.

A referendum popular among younger Taiwanese, which will be on the ballot this weekend, seems calculated to rile Beijing: It asks whether the island should join the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as Taiwan, rather than "Chinese Taipei" – the name agreed to under a compromise in the late 1970s.

"The Chinese suppression on Taiwan will not stop until it was unified by China," Taiwanese volleyball player Huang Pei-hung wrote in a post widely shared on Facebook to rally support for the referendum. "Please work hard to help rectify Taiwan's name."