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
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS