During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Taiwanese speedskater Huang Yu-ting (黃郁婷) provoked a storm of criticism for what was seen as pro-China behavior.
First, she posted a video of herself wearing a Chinese national team skinsuit before the start of the Games, then she told Chinese media after a race that “it felt like I was competing at home.”
The public slammed the Sports Administration and the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) for their “weakness” in retaining Huang as the national flagbearer at the opening ceremony.
One media outlet tried to come to their defense, saying that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was hanging the threat of membership cancelation over Taiwan’s head if Taipei replaced the flagbearer or was absent from the opening ceremony due to COVID-19 disease prevention measures.
Meanwhile, Huang, who has not apologized for her scandalous behavior, did express regret for the video, saying in an exclusive interview that she would not have shared it had she known it would cause such controversy.
Her father, who is also her coach, tried to gain pity for his daughter, saying that she lost her appetite during the Games because of cyberbullying.
However, the media’s ploy to soothe the public’s outrage and pass the buck to the IOC was rebutted by the Sports Administration, which clarified in a news conference that there was no such intimidation.
After Huang had finished competing at the Beijing Winter Olympics, she took to Facebook, saying: “Thanks to everyone who cheered for me, I have finished my second Olympics. The comment section is now open for haters and trolls,” making her so-called “regret” seem all the more disingenuous.
It is hard to believe that the IOC would actually interfere in how countries choose their flagbearers, let alone threaten to hand out penalties for it. The whitewashing by a certain media outlet and Huang’s claimed “ignorance” of the sensitivity of cross-strait politics is hypocrisy at its extreme.
As the government has full control and jurisdiction over the CTOC, it is high time an investigation is conducted into Huang’s misconduct.
[Editor’s note: Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Saturday told the Sports Administration and Ministry of Education to investigate Huang’s remarks and actions before and during the Games.]
With a pro-Taiwan stance being the general consensus in the nation, Taiwanese have found it difficult to stomach Huang’s ludicrous behavior of wearing the Chinese team uniform and making pro-China comments.
After seeing her unapologetic and bellicose attitude on the Internet, it would be safe to say that it was Huang who is to blame for offending Taiwanese. Can the CTOC and the media — who were soft-pedaling the incident — really turn a blind eye to such flagrant and shameless behavior?
For the past decade, Huang was honored with Guo Guang Athletic medals and scholarships, receiving at least NT$14.1 million (US$505,666) from the government. If the training funds and subsidies that the Sports Administration gives to outstanding athletes for the Asian Games and the Olympics are included, Huang received more than NT$1 million last year and more than NT$10 million in the past decade.
As a national team athlete who has committed grave misconduct by harming the image and dignity of the nation, the Sports Administration and the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) made amends by replacing her as the flagbearer before the closing ceremony.
For such an unpatriotic national team athlete to promote China’s unification ideology while leeching on taxpayers’ money is truly a shame for Taiwan. The public will have to wait and see whether the government and the Sports Administration deal out a penalty that the athlete rightfully deserves.
Chin Ching is an educator.
Translated by Rita Wang
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