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Exchange program engulfed in funding furore

Funding for the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee's cross-strait athletic exchange programs was reported to have been cut, as the National Sports Council (NSC) only approved some of the proposed programs.

A report in the Chinese-language China Times on Friday said that the committee had originally submitted an annual budget of NT$9.2 million (US$278,787) to help pay for the travel expenses for the cross-strait exchange programs, including visits from the Beijing Olympic Committee and Chinese gymnasts to Taiwan.

Some Taiwanese academics and doping specialists were also scheduled to visit Beijing this year, and their expenses were expected to be covered by the committee as well, the report said.

The report went on to say that the committee had listed a total of 17 proposed visits in its annual budget plan, only seven of which were approved by the council.

Meanwhile, the council had further reduced the committee's budget from NT$9.2 million to NT$3.1 million, the report said.

The report indicated that the council's decision to reduce the budget was connected with the fact that the Olympic torch will not travel through Taiwan.

The NSC later defended its decision in a statement saying that it simply adjusted the budget based on the current situation.

"The committee in Beijing is under a lot of stress to complete all the preparatory work for the Olympics, which consequentially reduces its capacity to handle cross-strait exchange programs," it said.

"Exchange visits may also be fruitless since Beijing has decided not to open Olympics venues for visits at the moment," it said.

"Therefore, we decided to approve eight items in the proposed plan and allotted NT$3.7 million to the committee," the statement said.

The statement contradicted the number of items and the budget quoted in the China Times

The council's statement noted that visits from Beijing's Olympic Committee and the Chinese gymnasts were first agreed upon when Beijing and Taiwan signed a memorandum last April.

However, the committee officially informed the council in October that representatives from the committee would be unable to come to Taiwan.

The Chinese gymnasts, on the other hand, needed to prepare for the Games and had to cancel their proposed trip.

The statement also indicated that the council decided to cut the budget for visits to China by Taiwanese athletes as it considered the timing to be inappropriate, given that many of the nation's Olympic hopefuls are undergoing intensive training for the games.

The council emphasized that both committees will in general follow the terms of agreement stated in the memorandum, and any last-minute change was unlikely.
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