Political commentator Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) on Monday criticized Fubon Braves head coach Yen Hsing-shu (顏行書) over a Facebook post.
On Saturday, a group of spectators attending the opening of the William Jones Cup in New Taipei City displayed a banner in Mandarin and English that read: “Taiwan. It’s not Chinese Taipei, it’s Taiwan!”
Referring to the sports arena on Facebook, Yen said the “clean, sacred ground ... had fallen.”
“Yen said that international exchanges in sports arenas have no borders and basketball fans caused the arena to fall by hanging up a banner,” Cheng said on Facebook. “I think he is brain damaged.”
“When competing abroad, our athletes are pressured by China to call themselves Chinese Taipei. Why can we not call our teams ‘Team Taiwan’ in our own nation?” Cheng said.
“If sports arenas are clean, sacred grounds, why did [President] Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) tear down Taiwan’s national flags during the women’s Asian Cup soccer games?” Cheng said, referring to an incident in 2001 when spectators were banned by Taipei police from waving the Republic of China flag in the stand.
Ma was Taipei mayor at the time.
“Everyone in Taiwan should know that we do not accept ‘Chinese Taipei.’ It is forced on us by international politics... In our own nation, we do not need to humiliate ourselves. Taiwan is Taiwan,” Cheng said.
Following criticism from netizens, Yen’s original post has since been removed and replaced with a new statement saying: “I am deeply disappointed that my personal, spontaneous comments have been distorted by certain media groups into misleading headlines.”
Yen said that he accepts “personal responsibility” for his remarks and that he is “sorry that people and organizations close to me have been negatively affected.”
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
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
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
RSS