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
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS