Premier Frank Hsieh (
"Vancouver's people will be more than happy to share their experiences of hosting the Olympic Games with Taiwanese people for sure, if there is a chance," Campbell said. "In addition, the city shall support Taiwan for its future application to host the Olympics."
Campbell made the remarks during a meeting with Hsieh yesterday morning.
Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Another Canadian city, Calgary, hosted the winter games in 1988, while Montreal hosted the 1976 Olympic Games.
Campbell said there are many advantages to hosting the Olympic Games.
"It [the Olympics] creates a lot of job opportunities, sparks local business and ... the Olympic facilities will become local residents' playgrounds afterwards," Campbell said.
Later in the day the premier met with Chi, who is a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker and the winner of the bronze medal in the 80m hurdles at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games.
Hsieh, calling Chi Taiwan's "national treasure," said she would be the ideal candidate to promote Taiwan's bid to apply to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
Chi affirmed the premier's idea to apply to host the games. She also urged Taiwanese people to believe in themselves.
Using a proverb to expresses the idea that a situation is difficult but still has hope, Chi said: "I think the premier's idea is a ray of light through the valley, but we should be confident in ourselves and believe that we can make it."
When he was asked how Taiwan would respond if China proposed that Beijing and Taipei co-host the 2020 Olympics, the premier didn't say anything and smiled.
Chi, however, dismissed the idea.
"China and Taiwan are both International Olympic Committee [IOC] members but their memberships are separate. In the past, there has never been a situation in which two IOC members co-hosted the Olympics. As a result, I think it is quite impossible," Chi said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
"When it comes to votes, Taiwan cannot do anything about it because it requires international support. The more the better," Chen said. "But we can and will keep working on that [diplomacy]."
The Olympic issue began to develop on Wednesday morning, when Hsieh suddenly mentioned that Taiwan should apply to host the Olympic Games.
In the 24 hours since his announcement, his idea has come under criticism, but he brushed this aside.
"I think my fellow Taiwanese should work hand in hand on this issue. I do not understand why such an issue would become the target for political attacks," Hsieh said.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS