The Sports Administration yesterday denied that it has any intention of bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games, adding that it is helping New Taipei City bid for the 2023 Asian Games.
The US Olympic Committee has been meeting in Boston to discuss possible cities to bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. A report from WCVB-TV, an ABC-affiliated television station in Boston, said on Tuesday that Boston is likely to submit a bid for the 2024 Olympics along with Dallas, Los Angeles, Rome and Taipei.
In response, Sports Administration Director-General Ho Jow-fei (何卓飛) said that the administration is assisting New Taipei City with its bid for the 2023 Asian Games and the nation has no plans to bid for the 2024 Olympics because the Games are only a year apart.
Taipei City Department of Sports Commissioner Ho Chin-liang (何金梁) said that the capital’s top priority is to make sure the 2017 Summer Universiade is successful.
“We don’t have any plans nor have we received instructions from the central government [about the 2024 Olympics Games],” Ho Chin-liang said.
The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee also denied having received such information, adding that a bid for such a large sports event would require inter-departmental coordination and that there would need to be a committee.
Though WCVB-TV failed to mention the source of its information, a bid for the 2024 Olympics was mentioned by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during a TV debate on Dec. 17, 2011, ahead of the presidential election.
“The nation has just secured the right to host the Summer Universiade, which is second only to the Olympics. We can now start training teenagers so that they have a chance to fight for gold medals in 2017,” Ma said in the debate. “With the experience of the Summer Universiade as the basis, our next goal would be [to host] the 2024 Olympic Games. Five countries who have held the Summer Universiade in the past have also held the Olympics, including the US and China.”
However, the idea of hosting the Olympics was dismissed by his opponent, People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜).
“Taiwan has hosted many sports events before and you can’t say that they were not important, but a good manager must prioritize the allocation of resources and pay more attention to the nation’s economy,” Soong said.
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
RSS