The 34th Baseball World Cup tournament is still a few months away, but already there is a political dogfight over where to hold the games and ceremonies.
Taipei City's successful bid to host the World Cup tournament has been good news for Taiwan's sports circles. The country has not hosted any major international tournaments for a long time. After China's all out effort to win Beijing the 2008 Olympic Games, a baseball tournament here will be a tremendous encouragement for Taiwan's sports circles and society at large. Once Taiwan's most popular sport, baseball has been all but abandoned by its fans, after a series of gambling and bribery scandals that ruined the Chinese Professional Baseball League (
However, the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (
It is amazing how trivial Taiwan's politicians can be. Nothing is too small or too big to escape being turned into a partisan political struggle -- and they are going all out as the year-end elections draw nearer. The National Sports Council has, by its bungling, turned a cut-and-dried matter of scheduling and the deadly dull weekly meetings of the Executive Yuan into something resembling a pitt bull fight.
Kaohsiung County's Chengching Lake stadium is indeed larger and better than Taipei's under-utilized Tienmu stadium. But the Kaohsiung stadium wasn't built yesterday. If the council believed the Kaohsiung stadium was superior, then it should have allowed Kaohsiung County to bid for the tournament two years ago -- instead of Taipei City (which was still building the Tienmu stadium at the time). To try to steal some of the glory from Taipei after the city has won its bid is neither fair nor reasonable.
Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien (
Despite the IBA's decision, the county government is still clamoring for the final game and the closing ceremony. Talk about poor sportsmanship.
All the parties involved in this dispute should let go of political considerations and look at the issues from a sports perspective. Taipei City has good reason for insisting on carrying out its duties as the tournament's official host. If, however, IBA officials, when they come for an inspection at the end of this month find the Tienmu stadium unfit for the closing ceremony, then Taipei should stand aside gracefully and let Kaohsiung County show that it is not the ill-mannered, cry-baby country bumpkin it now appears to be.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.