China, playing in their first Olympic baseball competition, upstaged Taiwan 8-7 yesterday in a game that went into extra innings and stopped work in Taipei as incredulous fans watched events unfold on television.
After the game, Taiwanese coach Hung Yi-chung (洪一中) attended the press conference alone, saying that the coaching team would take full responsibility.
“Loss is loss,” Hung said, adding that most players had performed well, but that the relief pitcher had been too cautious.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
With the overtime in the game against Japan, Hung had been worried that the team wouldn’t get enough rest before the game against China. He asked to have the match against China postponed, but the request was rejected.
One of the players, Shih Chih-wei (石志偉), said the team had not had enough rest after Thursday night’s game, but that it was not an excuse for the defeat.
As for the new system of installing runners on the first and second bases in the 11th inning, Hung said that teams were unaccustomed to it and it is somewhat unfair to the teams that bat first.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“It’s just like in history,” said Mao Ai-fen, a government employee in Keelung. “Last night we lost to [former colonial power] Japan and today we lost to the communist bandits.”
A man surnamed Huang, 50, said as he watched the action on television in Taipei: “They should all go jump in the sea. This is the end for the Taiwan team.”
In Beijing, fans from both sides waved plastic batons and cheered their teams from different pockets of the crowd. They behaved respectfully, even cheering for one another when catchable foul balls went into the stands.
The coach of China’s team, Jim Lefebvre, also attended the press conference with three Chinese players, saying it was a significant victory for Chinese baseball.
Separately, former Taiwanese coach Lin Hua-wei (林華韋) said he had once predicted China would eventually beat Taiwan in baseball, “but I didn’t really expect it to happen right here, right now.”
Also See: Olympic STORIES
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
CLASSIFIED BRIEFING: The ministry said the special budget focuses on building a comprehensive defense system and strengthening the domestic defense industry The Ministry of National Defense yesterday released information on seven categories of weapons systems to be procured under a stalled NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.57 billion) special defense budget, including precision artillery, long-range missiles, air defense anti-tank missiles and more than 200,000 uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Executive Yuan approved a draft version of the budget on Nov. 27 last year and submitted it to the legislature for review. The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday invited Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to deliver a classified briefing and answer questions at a closed-door session. Koo said he hoped to provide lawmakers
RSS