Not having the Taipei Dome is only one factor that might affect the nation’s bid to host the World Baseball Classic (WBC), the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) said, adding that the organizer would take various factors into consideration when deciding the venue for the tournament.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) could today announce the host country for the international baseball tournament next year. The competitions in Asia are scheduled to take place in two venues, with one of them being in Japan.
The other venue would be in Taiwan or South Korea.
In an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), CTBA secretary-general Richard Lin (林宗成) said that South Korea has a better chance of winning the bid this time because it has raised its royalty for hosting the tournament and would host the games at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
Should Taiwan lose to South Korea this time, it would be in part because Taiwan does not have a venue like the Gocheok Sky Dome, he said in his interview with the Liberty Times.
However, Lin said that whether Taiwan has a baseball stadium like the Sky Dome is only one factor that the WSBC would consider when it decides the venue.
Other factors, including the country’s weather, its transportation system and its previous experience of hosting the tournament, would all be taken into consideration, Lin said.
Lin said that South Korea only became a viable host after it resolved the issue of its cold weather by building the Sky Dome.
Lin said Taiwan still has the advantage over South Korea, even though the association has never mentioned the Taipei Dome as a probable venue in its bid to host the international competition.
Lin said the association has proposed the games be held in Kaohsiung, which has fair weather.
Previously, the CTBA had proposed that the games be held in Taichung as well.
Apart from the weather, Lin said Taiwan has also raised its royalty for hosting the game.
Meanwhile, the baseball teams would not encounter problems in arranging accommodation, Lin said.
In addition to support for the tournament from the government and fans, Lin said that the association has accumulated extensive experience in hosting the game since 1999, which is a great advantage.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
Japanese Councilor Hei Seki (石平) on Wednesday said that he plans to visit Taiwan, saying that would “prove that Taiwan is an independent country and does not belong to China.” Seki, a member of the Japan Innovation Party, was born in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province and became a naturalized Japanese in 2007. He was elected to the House of Concilors last year. His views on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — espoused in a series of books on politics and history — prompted Beijing to sanction him, including barring Seki from traveling to China. Seki wrote on X that he intends
RSS