Taiwan notched their third win at the Under-18 World Championship in Taipei yesterday — defeating Bulgaria 4-2 — a day after their encounter against China turned nasty seconds after the game finished 4-0 in favor of the visitors.
China lead Division III, undefeated through four games after their 12-0 dismantling of New Zealand yesterday, but they won no friends after China forward Wang Ziqiao (王梓喬) appeared to deliberately skate into a Taiwan player after the final siren in their game on Friday.
A melee resulted, with sticks scattered over the ice as players traded blows and bottles, and even a chair, were thrown into the rink.
Photo courtesy of Chantal Liao
Video footage showed China defenseman Cui Yunjie throwing the chair back over the glass into an area where spectators can walk.
As the referees struggled to regian control, some of the China team skated to mid-ice, where they unfurled a Chinese national flag and gesticulated toward the crowd until being ushered to the bench.
Reports said that the China players were furious with spectators for shouting at them to “go back to China.”
Photo courtesy of Chantal Liao
Taiwanese linesman Chantal Liao, who was not officiating, but was a photographer at the game, described the situation as a “vicious circle.”
China were angry about the spectators yelling, so they hit our [Taiwan] player, causing the spectators to yell more,” she said.
Wang and fellow China forward Wang Jing (王京) were penalized and suspended for one game for their roles in the fracas.
Photo courtesy of Chantal Liao
The game itself was a fractious affair, with 18 penalties shared between the two sides before the two after the siren.
China were on the receiving end, penalized 12 times in regulation time, including all six that were handed out in the second period, for throwing a stick or any object, delaying the game, boarding, misconduct and too many men on the ice.
Taiwan are second-equal among the six teams, adding wins over Turkey, 8-1 on Tuesday, and New Zealand, 3-2 on Wednesday, to yesterday’s result. Israel also have three wins after beating Turkey 6-2 yesterday, while Bulgaria have one and New Zealand none.
The final round of games is on tomorrow at the Taipei Annex Arena, with China to play Turkey in the first game, Bulgaria taking on New Zealand and Taiwan to play Israel in the last game, which is to begin at 8pm.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS