Taiwanese soccer fans were up in arms on Sunday after confrontations broke out when officials tried to stop spectators from expressing support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement at an East Asian Cup qualifier in Taipei.
At the men’s qualifying match between Taiwan and Hong Kong, several hundred local fans heeded calls from groups to bring yellow umbrellas to the game, as they are a symbol of Hong Kong’s democracy movement.
Fans in one row in the stands held up 14 yellow umbrellas displaying lyrics from Hong Kong band Beyond’s hit song Glorious Years from the 1990s: “Hold on tight to freedom in the wind and rain. We have the confidence to change the future” (風雨中抱緊自由、自信可改變未來).
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Football Association
Then, as the Chinese national anthem was being played, local spectators joined visiting fans in singing a rendition of Beyond’s other 1990s hit, Boundless Oceans Vast Skies, the unofficial theme song of Hong Kong’s “Umbrella movement.”
One Hong Kong reporter said it was a surprise to see such strong support from Taiwan’s sports community, adding that he was grateful that the fans staged such a display at an international soccer event.
Many Hong Kongers took to Facebook and other social media sites to thank Taiwanese for showing their solidarity, with one writing: “Hong Kong and Taiwan, we stand together and will fight together.”
A number of Taiwanese spectators also brought Republic of China flags to the game. However, officials from the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) confronted the flag-waving fans, saying that waving flags was dangerous and telling the supporters to put them down. The officials added that sports should not be mixed with politics.
A CTFA referee section official identified as Shih Po-hai (史勃海) was seen going into the stands and demanding that spectators remove any protest slogans and national flags, while telling fans: “You cannot perform these activities here” and “Your actions will set our national team’s ranking back further.”
Some fans said their rights to freedom of expression and to stage displays of patriotism were infringed upon, and a large section of the stands began chanting: “Taiwan is a democratic country” at the official.
Many Taiwanese netizens accused CTFA officials of bowing to pressure from China and demanded they protect fans’ rights to display flags and slogans at sports events.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan