In an effort to prevent Beijing from monopolizing the limelight with the 2008 Olympics, Kaohsiung has won its bid to host the 2009 World Games, signing a contract yesterday to host the world's second-largest international sports tournament with officials from the International World Games Association (IWGA).
Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), together with the head of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Chen Chuan-shou (陳全壽), signed the contract with IWGA President Ron Froehlich and IWGA Secretary-General Co Koren yesterday afternoon in Kaohsiung's landmark Ocean Star Square.
"I call on the people of Taiwan to congratulate Taiwan and Kaohsiung on winning the bid to host the World Games," Hsieh said in the signing ceremony. "After being blocked by the People's Republic of China for a long time, Taiwan has finally succeeded in its bid to host the World Games, thanks to the unflagging efforts of the city's officials."
Hsieh said that the World Games are a very important international sporting event, and that Taiwan cannot afford to not participate in it, as participating in the World Games will lift the level of domestic athletes and facilitate the city's development in manufacturing and tourism.
The Eighth World Games are scheduled to take place in Kaohisung from July 16 to July 26 in 2009, and nearly 100 countries and 3,000 athletes will take part in the event.
"Hopefully Taiwan will obtain worldwide attention from the international media because of this grand sporting event and will have more opportunities to join in the international affairs," Hsieh said.
Often called the "little Olympics," the World Games were initiated in 1981 by the IWGA, and now have 99 participating member countries, according to Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀), Kaohsiung City Government's Bureau of Education chief. Cheng was in charge of coordinating the bid to host the World Games for the past two years.
Cheng said the World Games are a quadrennial international sports tournament that are second only to the Olympics in scale. Some sporting events that are currently not on the Olympics program are played in the World Games, and some of the popular events that have recently joined the Olympics -- such as badminton, baseball and taekwondo -- gained added popularity after originally featuring in the World Games.
The Sixth World Games were held in Akita, Japan in 2001, and the Seventh World Games will be held in Duisburg, Germany in the summer of next year.
During the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, there will be 31 official sports events such as bodybuilding, life-saving, billiards, bowling, water skiing, tug of war, rock climbing and so forth. Three invitational sports including Tchoukball, croquet and dragon boat racing will be added in 2009, Cheng said.
Unlike the Olympics, the athletes who participate in the World Games are introduced during the opening ceremony according to their event, not their nationality. Therefore, there will no problems about the names or flags of the teams, Cheng said.
Kaohisung City Government will invest NT$7.8 billion to build a multifunctional Sports Dome for the World Games, which is slated to be completed in 2006, the same year the city's new MRT system will be completed.
Cheng Li-chun (
Cheng Li-chun said that Kaohsiung Sports Federations has expressed full support for Kaohsiung for the bid to host the 2009 World Games, and Kaohsiung citizens were excited about the news.
"We not only hope for additional economic benefits that the World Games could bring to Kaohsiung, but we also hope that more and more people can know about Kaohisung and Taiwan through this international event," Chen Li-chun said.
Also see story:
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
RSS