As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft.
The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft.
The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect Mouhamed Lamine Mbaye of National Chengchi University, issued a joint statement in Chinese one day after the P.League+ and the T1 League announced their decision to exclude them from the draft, which is scheduled to take place on July 15.
Photo: Chen chih-chu, Taipei Times
The decision came as part of ongoing discussions to flesh out the rules for the new league.
The two leagues said they excluded international students from the draft because the new league does not expect the students to “effectively elevate the competitiveness of Taiwan basketball on the international stage.”
Emphasizing that they followed the registration procedures for the P.League+ draft, the eight players said they never expected to be informed of their exclusion from the draft two days before the combine — a trial session —, in which they still plan to participate.
“It’s hard for us to accept the new league’s decision,” they said, adding that the remark that international students cannot effectively contribute to improving Taiwan’s competitiveness in basketball is “unconvincing” and “lacking evidence,” and might even be “discriminatory.”
The eight students in their joint statement said that they had all been looking forward to the P.League+ draft, and their families have spent large sums of money to fly to Taiwan to support them.
“Is our dream shattered in Taiwan now? Or is there still any room for a turnaround?” the eight students asked in their statement.
Following the announcement on Monday, four-time UBA champion coach Chen Tzu-wei (陳子威) expressed his dissatisfaction with the drastic change, writing on social media platform Threads that the change has not given schools and coaches any time to make adjustments.
The international students have received notifications from the P.League+, saying they can decide to join in the combine or withdraw from it.
The two leagues issued a response to the international students’ statement on Tuesday night, reiterating that the preparatory committee for the new league made the decision to bring Taiwan in line with other pro leagues in Asia.
It said that the decision was made in accordance with Taiwan’s laws, and the new league’s rules and regulations, which have not been made public.
The committee offered an apology to the international students for introducing the rule change, saying it hopes they would continue to thrive in Taiwan and hopefully play in the nation’s pro league as international players.
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
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
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS