Amid tectonic shifts in the global economy at the start of the age of digital information and diversity, the world's focus has gradually been shifting from the United States and Europe to Asia. In recent years Asia has held numerous international games and expos, and Taiwan has been among those competing to host them. Two of them are being held in Taiwan this year: the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung in July and the 21st Deaflympics in Taipei in September. The 2010 International Flora Expo and the 2011 International Design Association Congress, both in Taipei, will follow.

Apart from demonstrating the planning abilities of the host country, major games and expos of this sort also provide the ultimate stage for a nation to raise its image and to display and market its culture and creativity. Events of this sort can give the host nation face, but they also require true skill to pull off-which begs the question: is Taiwan properly prepared to hold this series of major international competitions?

Apex Lin, who worked as a consultant to Beijing in 1999 when it prepared its application to host the 2008 summer Olympics games, is the only person in Taiwan with experience in planning an Olympics. Lin notes that visual images and the involvement of creative industries are essentials for any major international competition. These events involve the national image and require early planning to bring together numerous and varied resources. He says that Japan, Korea and mainland China have had ample experience with the structural integration needed for large-scale international competitions. Yet he is worried that "Taiwan has not shown that it is sufficiently prepared" to hold the World Games in Kaohsiung and the Deaflympics in Taipei.

Beginning with the Seoul Olympics in 1988, Lin has attended and gathered information about every Olympics. He emphasizes that design planning for an international competition is not a monolithic endeavor, but rather requires a systematic conception of an overall design that emphasizes originality and brings cultural, artistic and historical sensibilities to a unified design of logos and design interfaces through different stages of strategic planning. Then, various main themes and merchandise must be created on different schedules.

Under the leadership of design theorist Masaru Katsumi, Japan brought together many of its top designers to create the Olympics' first visual identity system (VIS) for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. The system was then deepened and strengthened for the Japan World Exposition '70 in Osaka and the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Ever since, the nation has had a well-developed system for organizing these kinds of events.

South Korea hosted the Asian Games in Seoul in 1986, for which it mobilized many of the nation's top designers. Korea then hosted the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and the Daejeon World Exposition in 1993. With these, the nation was successfully able to display the beauty of Korea and the special character of the Korean people.

Comparatively speaking, when various levels of government in Taiwan face their responsibilities as hosts of an international competition, they still solicit proposals. Consequently, the winning design firms are different every time and new teams must constantly be formed. And there is no way for experience to get passed along. The nation is unable to present a unified image, and the hosting cities aren't able to plan comprehensively. Controversy ensues.

For instance, for the Kaohsiung World Games, the Formosan rock-monkey and the folk deity the Third Prince Nezha were selected as mascots. Then, in consideration of the varying religious beliefs of participating nations, they hired Apex Lin and decided to construct the image of the games around the idea of Kaohsiung as a "city of the sun" and a "maritime city." Lin Zongqing, the lead designer for these World Games, then used an image of water droplets to design two water spirits: Gao Mei and Syong Ge. And surprisingly, the winning logo for the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo was strikingly similar to the one selected for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Meanwhile, Lin wonders whether choosing five seasonal spirits (a red child for spring, a green child for summer, and so forth) as mascots for the International Flora Expo is going to create confusion and make it difficult for the public to identify them.

Lin stresses that the hosting of international athletic events should be treated as a national, rather than a local governmental matter. Individual cities shouldn't be left to do things their own way. He recommends that the government establish a permanent organization to carry out meticulous design planning, so as to take full advantage of these rare opportunities to host international events. Handling these events properly requires working on multiple fronts, including the creation of visual images, industrial development and the involvement of creative industries. Only by so doing will Taiwan be able to create a clear national image and a distinct national identity.