A Taiwanese sports group yesterday protested at being left out of a taekwondo warm-up event for the Beijing Olympics, describing the development as a political maneuver aimed at downgrading Taiwan.
"We made a verbal protest to the organizer of the Good Luck Beijing event and asked if they could remedy the situation, but they said it is very difficult," said a Chinese-Taipei Taekwondo Association official, who asked not to be named.
"Taiwan won two bronze [medals] at the Sydney Olympics and two gold and one silver at the Athens Olympics. Four Taiwan players have qualified to compete in the Beijing Olympics," he said.
"But the organizer said they are inviting only about 100 taekwondo competitors to the warm-up event out of the 128 competitors who will participate in the Beijing Olympics. So the purpose of excluding Taiwan players is obvious: It is to downgrade our international status."
The rules of the taekwondo warm-up are similar to the official competition, though competitors do not compete on a scoring basis. The main purpose is to allow competitors to experience the conditions of Olympic competition in advance of the Games proper.
Not inviting Taiwan's taekwondo squad to the warm-up was tantamount to "confiscating" the experience from the players, the Chinese-Taipei Taekwondo Association official said.
Because the warm-up is taking place on an invitation-only basis, the four Taiwanese players -- Chu Mu-yen (
Taekwondo and archery are Taiwan's best chances of winning gold at the Beijing Olympics.
Beijing will host the 2008 Summer Olympics from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24. Prior to the Games, China is hosting a series of "Good Luck Beijing" international tournaments in preparation for the Olympics.
Under pressure from China, Taiwanese athletes can only attend Olympic Games and most international sports events under the name of "Chinese Taipei" -- implying that Taiwan is part of China. The national flag of the Republic of China cannot be displayed, and only the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee song -- not the national anthem -- can be played at medal presentation ceremonies.
For the Beijing Olympics, Taiwan has asked the International Olympic Committee to guarantee that there will be no political interference and no discrimination against Taiwanese athletes.
China has promised that it will treat Taiwanese players fairly and in line with the Olympic Charter.
Also see: Don't just throw money at rural schools: researchers
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
RSS