Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday that the government would treat taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) as a “gold medalist” despite her controversial disqualification from the women’s under-49kg taekwondo competition at the Asian Games.
Wu said he felt sorry about the incident and promised not to suspend a career development plan for her — a government program designed to take care of award-winning athletes. However, he did not mention whether Yang would also be entitled to a government cash award for medal winners.
The government on Friday demanded that the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU) apologize to Yang over its controversial ruling and a statement on its Web site entitled “Shocking Act of Deception by Chinese Taipei.”
Wu pledged to take the case to arbitration in international courts if justice is not brought to Yang.
Denying that the government was slow in responding to the accusations made by the ATU, Wu said it took time to collect evidence to refute the allegations against Yang, adding that the government needed to take into account possible consequences for other athletes when it lodges a complaint against Yang’s disqualification.
Wu said the government managed to refute the allegations leveled against Yang by providing solid evidence and ensuring the rights of other athletes to continue participating in the Games, showing that the government has adopted “the best practice” to achieve results.
At a separate setting yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also dismissed accusations that he was slow to respond to the incident.
Ma first spoke out in public on the Yang incident on Friday — two days after the incident.
In response to the criticism, Ma said: “The Presidential Office issued a statement on the night of the incident declaring our determination to defend the rights of our athletes and protest against any accusations before the completion of a thorough investigation.”
Ma said he had asked the National Security Council to draw up a strategy to look into the incident before making a public response.
“We have to understand the circumstances and confirm the facts before making comments. This is the responsible way to handle the issue,” he said.
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