Taiwan's representative to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday said that despite advice to the contrary from then President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), he had in fact voted in support of China when it was vying for the 2000 Olympic games seven years ago, local media reported.
After Beijing lost its bid for the 2000 Olympic Games by two votes to Sydney, rumors arose that Taiwan's representative at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Wu Ching-Kuo (吳經國) had changed his vote against Beijing.
But in a United Evening News report yesterday Wu said that although the Lee Teng-hui administration had pressured him to vote against China, he had ended up voting for Beijing anyway.
Wu said that he was upset at being suspected of changing his vote, but also revealed that Beijing had known it had his support, and said that Ho Chen-liang (何振梁), then-president of Beijing's Chinese Olympic Committee had sent him a handwritten note stating his appreciation.
Wu said that the IOC investigation revealed that the two votes in question were Uganda and Kenya, which had initially supported China, but instead voted for Sydney.
Wu also said that the public should support President Chen Shui-bian's (
Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) was also quoted yesterday as saying that Taiwan fully supports Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic games and welcomes the prospect of some events being held in Taiwan.
Chen said that this will lead to reduced tensions between the two sides and promote cooperation and peace.
He added that discussions could be opened to allow both sides to share ideas and suggestions.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
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