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DPP tackles sports development

Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Su Tseng-chang, center, yesterday attends a press conference in rugby kit to promote a forum on Taiwan's sports policy to be held in Taipei on Monday. The forum will aim at addressing sports development to enhance the nation's international sports profile. PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES

Wearing different types of sportswear, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and other DPP officials yesterday touted a forum organized for Monday on how to change Taiwan's sports policies to let the nation's sportsmen and women achieve more at international level and win more Olympic gold medals.

In an effort to achieve the government's goal of winning at least seven gold medals at the 2008 Olympics Games, the New Boundary Cultural Foundation (新境界文教基金會) -- established by the DPP -- will hold a forum on sports policies at the Taipei Sharon Hotel on Monday.

Su -- president of the foundation, dressed in rugby kit and holding a rugby ball -- yesterday also invited Huang Yi-hsue (黃怡學), gold medal winner in the men's vault at the 2005 World University Games, as well as bronze-medal winner in the World Badminton Games Cheng Shao-chieh (鄭韶婕), to help to promote the forum.

DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) and spokesman Chen Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) yesterday also dressed up in taekwondo attire to help promote the forum.

"This forum aims at coordinating opinions from the sporting world and review the government's sports policies. Hopefully it could enable professional players, trainers and educators to work better with the government," Su said.

"We hope everyone in Taiwan not only watches games but also cares about the local development of sports," he said.

Su also said that Taiwan had achieved certain accomplishments at world-level games during the last two years. He believed that the nation could produce even better performances, as long as people joined in the promotion of sports and paid attention to players' hard work.

Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee chief Tsai Cheng-wei (蔡辰威) and Chinese Taipei Sports Federation Vice President Tsai Tsi-chuei (蔡賜爵), who also attended the activity, urged people interested in the nation's physical education to join in the forum and contribute their opinions and advice.

When asked whether the forum was the result of Su trying to compete with Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) on the sports issue, Su said that the foundation had been organizing this forum for a long time, that it was not a transient idea and that similar forums would be held in the future.
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