New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) said yesterday that the government should pool its resources to help support grassroots baseball because potential stars are identified and begin their development during childhood.
Wang made the suggestion during a meeting with Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), along with nine other recipients in this year's 10 most outstanding young men and women awards.
Wang was selected for the award in recognition of his outstanding performance in US Major League Baseball. He won 19 games in both 2006 and last year, setting a new record for wins by an Asian pitcher in a Major League season.
Baseball must take root at the elementary school level if Taiwan is to produce good players, Wang told Liu.
Liu said he would coordinate efforts by government agencies to improve the nation's Chinese Professional Baseball League, a league that has been plagued by match-fixing scandals in recent years.
“The nation's baseball scene developed from youth baseball. I think everyone can remember watching the successes of our youth baseball teams over the past decades, but now we have lots of problems with professional baseball,” Liu said.
Approached by the press after the meeting with Liu, Wang said he would donate the NT$7,200 in consumer vouchers he and his wife will receive as part of the government's plan to boost the economy to groups dedicated to grassroots baseball.
Another awardee, Lin Liang-jung (林良蓉), was honored in recognition of her appointment in July to the Advisory Center on WTO Law, a Geneva-based intergovernmental organization that was established in 2001 to provide legal advice on WTO law.
As the first Taiwanese to hold such a position, Lin said she hoped her performance could inspire more young Taiwanese to devote themselves to international trade negotiations.
Juan Hsueh-fen (阮雪芬), an associate professor at the Department of Life Science at National Taiwan University, was honored for her dedication to research into the medicinal applications of Ganoderma lucidum, a kind of fungi.
Juan said she hoped to prove that the substance was effective by means of systematic biology.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Also See: CPBL: Government, fans and coaches mull CPBL headaches
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS