The Taipei City Government yesterday celebrated winning the right to host the 2017 Summer Universiade, pledging to host a successful University Games with a total budget of almost NT$40 billion (US$1.3 billion).
Taipei City beat Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, in seeking the hosting rights of the event. The 12-day Games will be the largest international event Taipei has ever hosted to date, after the Summer Deaflympics in 2009 and the Taipei International Flora Expo last year.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who arrived in Belgium on Saturday to coordinate the bid along with a 40-person delegation, thanked the International University Sports Federation (FISU) for choosing Taipei as the host city and said obtaining the hosting rights showed the city’s capability to host international activities.
Photo: CNA
“There’s an old saying: ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ This is the fifth time we’ve taken part in the bidding, and finally we made it,” Hau said in accepting the certificate from the Games committee in Belgium. “Taipei City will work with the FISU closely and make the Summer Universiade in 2017 an exciting and passionate Games.”
In a video shown at a press conference organized by the Taipei City Government, Hau and the delegation hailed the FISU’s announcement on Taipei’s winning bid and chanted “Taipei! Taipei!”
Hau thanked committee members from China for their friendly gestures and expressing support before the vote, but declined to say whether China voted for Taipei when questioned by reporters.
Meanwhile, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) thanked the city government and Sports Affairs Council (SAC) for their efforts and attributed the successful bid to the improvement of cross-strait relations.
“Obtaining the hosting rights proves that the government’s goal of improving cross-strait relations and expanding the nation’s international space is absolutely correct,” he said.
The Universiade, an international sporting event for university students, is the second-largest sports event after the Olympics in terms of member nations and the number of participating athletes, government officials said.
Taiwan’s second-largest city, Kaohsiung, has made three unsuccessful bids for the University Games, while Taipei lost a previous bid in 2009 for the 2015 Summer Universiade.
In hosting the event in 2017, Taipei City will work with Keelung, New Taipei City (新北市), Taoyuan County and Hsinchu County to hold 14 major competitions in 64 existing facilities and accommodate 12,000 athletes from 163 nations.
The central government and the Taipei City Government will share the NT$39.5 billion budget, with more than NT$12 billion to be used in the construction of six new facilities, including the Taipei Dome, a basketball court, tennis court, a swimming pool, two stadiums and an athletes’ village, Taipei Deputy Mayor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) said at a press conference at Taipei City Hall.
The Taipei Dome project, which had been delayed because of environmental concerns, was approved on Nov. 16 and the construction is scheduled to be completed within the next two years, he said in response to concerns about the construction process of the project.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) expressed concerns about the financial burden for hosting the event and said hosting international activities was not a cure-all for the city’s development.
The Deaflympics in 2009 and the flora expo last year, which cost NT$5 billion and NT$14 billion respectively, have failed to improve much of the city’s development, she said, urging the city to devote more efforts in taking care of the people.
In response, Chen insisted the event would bring economic benefits of about NT$5 billion to NT$10 billion. Taipei will also bid for the rights to host the 2019 Asian Games.
Aside from the 2017 bid, Taiwan also made bids to host the Summer Universiade taking place in 2001, 2007, this year and 2015. The first three bids were launched by Kaohsiung.
Taipei City’s bid to host the 2015 Summer Universiade and lost to Gwangju, South Korea.
In a statement, the SAC attributed the success this time to the improvement of infrastructure and efforts made by government agencies and the general public.
“Members of the FISU Executive Committee were deeply impressed by the support from the Central Government [for the Summer Universiade] and detailed preparations made by the Taipei City Government and Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation, which motivated them to vote for the nation,” it said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from