How often it is the case that achievements in the sporting arena reflect and help construct the character of a nation.
Most of the time, this phenomenon is a positive one, producing not only images of heroism and tenacity but also considerable financial benefit for individuals, teams, codes and entire countries.
Then there are the other times.
On Monday, during the Straits Cup basketball tournament, the Taiwan Beer side was a few minutes away from losing its match against China's Jiangsu Nangang when one of the Jiangsu players, Meng Da (
It was a brazenly violent foul, and Meng was suitably rewarded with an early flight home. The incident left a nasty taste in the mouth, but that wasn't the end of it.
Taiwan Beer's team management ignored an apology from the Jiangsu side and took their side out of the competition.
This decision was contemptible. Pulling out of the contest not only points to the unprofessional and cowardly nature of the team officials but also, regrettably, to the lie-down-and-die mentality of the players, who could not bring themselves to publicly object to their removal from the competition, let alone stand up for the right of their fans and major sponsor to see them compete.
A more competitive reaction would have been a statement of increased commitment and a warning to future opponents that rough tactics would be useless and meet with a stern response -- on and off the field.
Unfortunately, this craven display is symptomatic of a code that is full of self-congratulation over its domestic gloss. Look beyond the surface, however, and the nation's basketball competition reveals itself to be a self-absorbed preening festival for underperforming sportsmen.
Worse, the basketball authorities seem to take no responsibility for the national basketball team's consistently passionless performances against other nations with far less resources and no professional support.
The fact that all this took place against a Chinese team of whom the Taiwan Beer team were said to be "fearful" makes it even harder to bear.
All the years of compulsory military service between the players apparently failed to inject one iota of cross-strait tension or pride in the game, which was, despite all of Taiwan Beer's whining, a timid and dull affair overall.
US basketball superstar Kobe Bryant was in town yesterday, and it was fitting that he should spend time with the nation's only basketballers who have real passion -- school-age children -- rather than these imposters.
Taiwan Beer has shown itself unworthy of support in any competition. The team has embarrassed themselves, their code and Taiwanese sports fans generally.
We suggest the players and their inept minders reconsider their career trajectory. Selling tickets to games involving real athletes with ambition and guts such as Taiwanese tennis queens Chan Yung-jan (
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations