President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday questioned whether China was fit to host the 2008 Olympic Games in view of the hostility Chinese fans displayed toward Japan's soccer team at the Asian Cup.
"Given what happened, it seems that Beijing might not be fit to host the 2008 Olympic Games," said Chen, echoing recent remarks made by Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara (石原慎太郎).
Chen was referring to the actions of Chinese fans during the Asian Cup football tournament between China and Japan last Saturday in Beijing. Japan China 3-1 in a tense final overshadowed by the fans' passionate Chinese nationalism and anti-Japanese sentiment due to lingering resentment over Japan's military invasion and brutal occupation of parts of China from 1931 to 1945.
Following the match, hordes of rowdy Chinese crowds burned the Japanese national flag, broke bottles and exchanged kicks and punches with riot police who had been deployed outside the stadium.
Chinese fans reportedly converged on the Japanese team's bus after the match, forcing the bus to depart without two players. Japanese fans attending the match, meanwhile, had to be escorted out of the stadium by riot police.
"These acts showed a lack of sportsmanship and democratic manner," said Chen yesterday, while receiving a delegation of members of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
"Whether it be in sport or any other kind of competition, there are wins and losses," Chen said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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