President Chen Shui-bian (
"We will ask our International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國) to assist [the federation's] request," Chen said while receiving the federation's president Choue Chung-won at the Presidential Office yesterday. "We will also seek more international forums for our taekwondo athletes to display their talents."
The number of sports to be a part of the 2012 Olympic Games is currently limited to 28. The martial art of taekwondo, along with baseball, softball and the modern pentathlon, is rumored to be on the list of sports that may be chopped from the official Olympic program.
The fate of these sports will be decided tomorrow when IOC members meet in Singapore. Aside from reviewing the selection of sports for the 2012 Olympics, the IOC members will also choose the host city for the games.
Chen told Choue that taekwondo is one of the sports that Taiwan is promoting, and noted that Taiwanese athletes won two gold and three bronze medals when the sport was first featured in the Olympics in 1988 as a demonstration sport.
At the Olympic Games last year in Athens, Taiwan's taekwondo athletes were able to compete with those from other countries in a fair environment thanks to Choue's insistence on good and impartial referees, Chen said. Taiwanese athletes Chen Shih-hsin (
Praising Choue for his push for more accuracy and fairness in taekwondo scoring by setting up a committee to reform the competition system and introducing the use of electronic scoring devices, Chen said he believes these measures will win the approval of all 125 IOC members and allow the sport to be included in the 2012 Olympics.
Chen also expressed hope that Choue will continue to boost taekwondo exchanges between the South Korea and Taiwan.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
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