Taiwanese aborigines perform at the main stadium during the World Games opening ceremony in Zouying, Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan on July 16, 2009. The World Games was to officially begin in southern Taiwan later, but China was expected to be absent from the opening ceremony for political reasons. (Sam Yeh/Getty Images)

The 100-strong Chinese delegation boycotted the opening ceremony of the World Games in Taiwan on Thursday, underscoring the limits of the historic breakthrough in relations between Taipei and Beijing.

The Chinese gesture is likely to ruffle feathers on this democratic island of 23 million people, which under President Ma Ying-jeou has moved aggressively to improve ties with the mainland, its once-bitter enemy.

While the Chinese delegation did not say immediately why it boycotted the ceremony — a comment on state-run China News Service acknowledged the presence of Chinese athletes in Taiwan, without mentioning the opening ceremony — the act is almost certainly related to Ma's role in declaring the games open.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949 and the communist mainland still views the island as part of its territory. Because of this claim Chinese attendance at the ceremony could have been seen as lending legitimacy to Ma's presidential role. That would contradict Beijing's long-standing position that Taiwan lacks state sovereignty.

The quadrennial World Games, first held in 1981, feature 21 non-Olympic sports, including sumo and rugby. This year, 3,100 athletes from 91 countries and territories will be participating.