President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday visited the National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung and said he would attend the opening ceremony of the upcoming World Games as president of the host country.
“Sports break the boundaries between nations and demonstrate sportsmanship ... I will attend the event as the leader of the nation,” Ma said while visiting the center.
The International World Games Association (IWGA) later issued a written statement confirming Ma’s attendance at the World Games in his capacity as president of the Republic of China (ROC).
“The President of the Republic of China will open the Eighth World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung. Mr Ma Ying-jeou will speak the decisive words during the opening ceremony in the Main Stadium,” Ron Froehlich, president of the IWGA said in an English statement, issued via the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC).
The IWGA said that the president’s participation in the official part of the celebration would highlight the importance of multi-sport events.
Froehlich said the decision to invite Ma to attend the opening ceremony as president of the ROC was made in accordance with the National Olympic Committee of Chinese Taipei, the IWGA and the Kaohsiung City Government.
“This act shows the respect for the efforts the host has made to present outstanding games,” he said.
Whether Ma would attend the event as the nation’s leader was contentious as the IWGA had sent a letter to the city government saying that no head of state had presided over the opening of the Games in its history, adding that it would invite Ma as a “special guest.”
The city government and the KOC were negotiating with the IWGA over Ma’s status at the ceremony, hoping that Ma would preside over the ceremony as president.
The World Games will be held in Kaohsiung from tomorrow until July 26. The eighth World Games, expected to attract participants from 105 countries and areas, with more than 3,800 athletes representing 98 countries, is considered an event that can increase the nation’s international visibility.
The National Police Agency (NPA) said yesterday that to maintain order at the World Games, it would form a task force for the event, with NPA Director-General Wang Cho-chun (王卓鈞) as director.
It will dispatch 36,686 local police officers, 5,400 central government police officers, 6,600 honor guards and thousands of other specialized security guards, Wang said.
The agency has prepared hundreds of metal detectors, vehicle inspection units, bulletproof trucks and gas masks.
Wang said security personnel would be stationed in and around the venue, including hotels, restaurants and the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that Nauru President Marcus Stephens and the interior minister of the Marshall Islands Norman Matthews were expected to attend the opening ceremony.
Stephens is a multiple-medal-winning weightlifter who won seven gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and serves as the head of the Nauru Olympic committee.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY HUANG AND JENNY W. HSU
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