All that glitters is not gold, Taiwan's athletes at the 14th Asian Games found yesterday in Busan, South Korea.
Taiwan's first medals were silver and bronze, but they were enough to give Taiwan a top-10 ranking after two days of competition.
PHOTO: AFP
Taiwan's rugby 7s team fought valiantly but could not overcome a South Korean side at the peak of its powers in the final, falling 33-21.
Meanwhile, women judoka Wang Chin-fang (
Meanwhile, Wang Shin-yuan (王信淵) claimed silver in the men's weightlifting 56kg class, just beating compatriot Yang Chin-yi (楊景翊) who took Taiwan's third bronze of the day.
Taiwan's sterling performances in rugby 7s against strong teams the previous day boded well going into the final round. Having whitewashed Hong Kong and China, Taiwan felt it could go all the way.
It's first task was to dispose of Thailand in the Pool B semifinal and it did so easily, brushing the Thais aside 19-0, with two tries in the first half from Wu Chih-wei (吳志威) and Pan Kuei-chih (潘溎志) and another touchdown from Wang Kuo-feng (王國峰) mid-way through the second half.
It should have been a confidence booster, but instead coach Wu Mao-sheng (
"We played very well in this competition and in the semifinal against Thailand we tried for an easy win, but then our players got a little nervous," Wu said.
Five minutes into the game and Taiwan was 5-0 down, as Korea's Park No-young broke through for the home team's first try and kicker Sung Hae-kyoung converted for two extra points and a 7-0 advantage.
Undaunted, Taiwan immediately fought back, with Chen Wen-yen (
Then, just before halftime, steady pressure from the Koreans paid off as Yong Hwang-myung managed to get over the line for a try after a scrum near the line. The conversion, however, bounced back off the bar and Korea led by five at the break.
Taiwan shocked the home fans when the second half started, however, when Wu Chih-hsien (
But Korea was not to be denied. It broke straight back from the kick, with Park Chang-min -- who proved to be a handful for Taiwan's defense -- collecting the ball and running through practically unopposed.
It was Park again who charged down a kick just after the restart, picking up the loose ball and sprinting in for his second try in as many minutes to give his team a 26-14 advantage.
It was too much for Taiwan's young tigers, who managed to get a try back when Chang Chin-fong (
"We didn't get as much rest as we would have liked and we weren't 100 percent," coach Wu said. He said the Korean team, most of whom are in their late 20s, was at its peak and would probably break up after the Games.
Taiwan, on the other hand, was a young team that would benefit from competing at this level and would "continue to grow and get better if it stays together," he said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting