Taiwan's baseball team have qualified for the Beijing Olympics by beating South Africa 4-0.

The win took Taiwan's record to 5-1 in the week-long tournament, good enough for a spot at the August Games even if they lose their final encounter against South Korea on Friday.

South Korea are assured an Olympic berth despite going down 4-3 to Canada, who have also qualified.

"Our team once had no chance at the Olympics," said Taiwan legislator Tsai Chin-lung.

"Since we can get into the Olympics we'll strive for the best score. I think people will separate politics from sport."

Taiwan's view of the Olympics is otherwise chilled by politics.

Beijing has claimed self-ruled Taiwan as its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and pledged to bring the island under its rule by force if necessary.

China tried to use the Games to charm Taiwan last year by offering it a stop on the Olympic torch route but the island government declined.

Taiwan have also beaten Australia, Germany, Italy and Mexico in this week's tournament. The team, officially dubbed Chinese Taipei, lost narrowly to Canada.

The baseball teams of Taiwan and South Korea failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The Olympic competition will feature eight teams in the sport's final appearance at the Games until at least 2016.

China, Cuba, Japan, Netherlands and United States have also qualified.

Reuters