Taiwanese baseball star Chen Chieh-hsien on Thursday said that he would not attend Taiwan Day at the Chicago White Sox, with the Uni-President Lions saying they would send their squad of cheerleaders instead.
Chen is heading the Lions’ bid to seize top spot in the CPBL standings — they have a 2.5-game lead over the CTBC Brothers — after gaining recognition by ending Taiwan’s long international title drought when he captained the national team to victory in the Premier12 tournament in November last year, where he was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Taiwanese-American communities in the US invited Chen to represent the nation and throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Chicago White Sox’s Taiwan Day event at Rate Field on June 28 when they take on the San Francisco Giants.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
A statement on June 3 had said that the Lions had agreed for Chen and several of the team’s cheerleaders to represent the club at the Taiwan Day event. While June 28 is the final weekend of first half of the CPBL season, the coaching staff agreed to Chen’s temporary absence together with Chen’s agency, Jen Mao International Marketing.
“Chen is representing the Uni-President Lions and also as captain of Team Taiwan ... Chen will receive no appearance fee for the event, while sponsors and the club ownership would pay all the expenses... To prevent fatigue from traveling, Chen will fly business class to and from Chicago and also have a fitness coach accompany him on the trip, as we expect Chen to be in good physical condition when he returns to Taiwan,” the statement said.
However, some fans criticized the decision as “unprofessional” and “not respecting the league and other teams” since Chen would miss a CPBL game against the Fubon Guardians.
While surveys showed about 60 percent of fans endorsing Chen representing the club and Team Taiwan at the Chicago White Sox event, some fans continued to question the matter, turning it into a political issue, as the main sponsor is the “Team Taiwan Foundation,” allegedly a pro-Taiwan independence organization.
The official Web site earlier this week named the event’s cosponsors, which included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Overseas Community Affairs Council and the Hakka Affairs Council, leading some to question the involvement of government agencies.
Hou Tsung-yo, a professor of digital content technology, said that Chinese had been posting messages and disinformation on Taiwanese Web sites condemning Chen for “supporting Taiwan independence” and “betraying the Chinese motherland.”
The event sponsors on Thursday said that six Uni-President Lions cheerleaders would go to the event in Chen’s place.
“Out of respect to the CPBL, the ongoing season and the fans, Chen is to focus fully on playing,” they said.
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