President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign office yesterday confirmed that its delegation to the US will seek to meet with Taiwanese baseball pitchers Wang Chien-ming (王建民) and Kuo Hong-chih (郭泓志) in praise of their dedication to sports. However, it denied that the delegation will attempt to use their fame for election campaign purposes.
The delegation, led by executive director of Ma’s re-election campaign office King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), will leave on a 12-day trip to the US today to boost Ma’s momentum among overseas supporters ahead of the January presidential election.
The visit sparked disputes yesterday as a new Facebook fan page was created revealing that Ma’s campaign team was contacting both Wang and Kuo’s agents, seeking to arrange meetings with the two Taiwanese star baseball players.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
“Ma’s team is obviously trying to use the delegation’s meetings with Wang and Kuo to create a false impression that the two athletes are supportive of the KMT presidential candidate,” the page said, adding that the campaign team would also contact Taiwanese golf star Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) to also request a meeting.
The page alleged that Ma and his campaign office are making things difficult for Taiwanese athletes by asking them to cooperate with their campaign activities, and urged Ma and all other politicians to stop using athletes as tools for election purposes.
Ma’s campaign office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) yesterday said the delegation will have a 10-minute meeting with the two baseball players in the US, to relay Ma’s encouragement and blessing to them.
“There won’t be any political language in the brief meeting ... President Ma has always cared about the two players, and we hope all Taiwanese athletes overseas feel the support of the people of Taiwan,” she said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the KMT should be ashamed of itself because anyone who understands US professional sports knows that ball clubs and players do not like to be disturbed during the regular season.
The best way to show your support for overseas Taiwanese athletes is to buy tickets and watch them play from the stands, Chen added.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai