Tennis player Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) yesterday repeated that she is a Taiwanese national and that the “glory” of winning the nation’s first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon belonged to everyone in Taiwan.
Hsieh returned to Taiwan on Wednesday night following her unprecedented victory in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon last week.
Yesterday morning, she first paid her respects to the deceased founder of Four Pillars Enterprises, Yang Pin-yen (楊斌彥), who was also the chairman of the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association (CTTA).
Photo: CNA
She met reporters following her visit to CTTA chairman Liao Yu-hui (廖裕輝).
The focus of the press conference was whether she would accept a NT$50 million (about US$1.7 million) per year sponsorship from a Chinese liquor company and switch allegiance to China.
Hsieh appeared to be rather irritated by the questions.
“I have never said anything about switching allegiance on my Facebook page, so I am a bit confused as to what happened here,” she said.
“Not just Qinghai [the Chinese liquor company], but other groups have approached me. I just never mentioned any of them in public,” she said.
“I think there’s no need to make a fuss about it. In other countries, people pay attention to tennis players who have potential. In Taiwan, nobody paid attention to tennis players before Wimbledon this year, but many people had in fact tried to talk to me about possible offers well before this time,” she said.
“My nationality is Republic of China [Taiwan], what more confirmation do you need?” Hsieh asked.
Hsieh said that she competed as a Taiwanese national at Wimbledon, and the glory of garnering the Grand Slam title belongs to everyone in Taiwan, whether or not she switches allegiance in the future.
She added that people should focus on how much effort she has made to make her what she is today.
Following her victory at Wimbledon, Liao and Hsieh each donated NT$1 million to establish a development fund for young tennis players. However, the funding is not enough for so many players, she said.
Asked about her plans in the next few months, Hsieh said that she wanted to rest for about a month before competing in the pre-US Open series. She would also start looking for training venues in other countries next week.
Asked who her partner would be in the doubles, she said: “It’s Peng Shuai (彭帥). It’s settled.”
Peng was her Chinese partner at Wimbledon.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS