The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee yesterday published a list of 11 Taiwanese athletes who would be temporarily banned from participating in world sports events after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
In a letter dated March 6, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) asked the committee to make public the list of contravening athletes and the duration of their ban before Friday next week.
Two-time weightlifting champion Hsu Shu-ching (許淑淨) was listed among the offenders, while Lin Tsu-chi (林子琦), already banned for testing positive during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, is under a six-year ban for a repeat offense.
Photo: Hsu Cho-hsun, Taipei Times
Others on the list are Chen Pin-sheng (陳品升), Yang Fu-chieh (楊富傑), Yeh Mu-han (葉慕涵) and Chen Kung-wen (陳孔文) in the bodybuilding category, as well as Chen Shih-hao (陳士豪), Chang Yu-hsi (張有錫), Chiang Kai-chieh (江凱傑) and Huang Lung-hsing (黃龍興) in the powerlifting category.
Wu Chou-wei (吳宙威), a hammer thrower, is also on the list.
While former Taekwondo athlete Chuang Chia-chia (莊佳佳), the director of the Taoyuan Department of Sports, is not on the list, allegations emerged yesterday that she has been banned from participating in sports events for failing to report to the WADA about her whereabouts in 2017.
Chuang confirmed the allegations, saying a petition has been filed, but added that the ban was not related to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Sports Administration Director-General Kao Chin-hsung (高俊雄) said that the agency would convene a meeting within two weeks to determine whether it would demand that Hsu return her salary as a coach at the National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung during the time she was banned, which began in January last year.
Hsu has already resigned as a center coach.
Pundits have said that Hsu’s defense of “accidental ingestion” of the drug as weak, as both she and Lin tested positive for the same substance.
The agency will also re-evaluate the suitability of coach Tsai Wen-yee (蔡溫義), Kao said.
Kao pledged that a final decision would be made prior to April 15 on whether Tsai would be allowed to stay on as a coach.
The agency is also mulling whether to establish a separate drug-testing unit, which is currently handled by the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, he said, adding that a review of extant regulations would be required.
The agency is focused foremost on the protection of athletes’ right to participate in sports events, but this focus must be tempered by observation of international regulations, Kao said.
Additional reporting by CNA
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS