Fri, Jul 08, 2005 page2

• Hsieh secures Vancouver's support for Olympic plan

  SPORTING VENUE Vancouver's mayor said that the city would support a bid by Taiwan to host the Olympics, while a top athlete also backed the premier's proposal

  • By Jimmy Chuang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday continued to promote his dream of Taiwan hosting the Olympics in separate meetings with Vancouver City Mayor Larry Campbell and Chi Cheng (紀政), who is considered the top female Asian track-and-field athlete of the 20th century.

  "Vancouver's people will be more than happy to share their experiences of hosting the Olympic Games with Taiwanese people for sure, if there is a chance," Campbell said. "In addition, the city shall support Taiwan for its future application to host the Olympics."

  Campbell made the remarks during a meeting with Hsieh yesterday morning.

  Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Another Canadian city, Calgary, hosted the winter games in 1988, while Montreal hosted the 1976 Olympic Games.

  Campbell said there are many advantages to hosting the Olympic Games.

  "It [the Olympics] creates a lot of job opportunities, sparks local business and ... the Olympic facilities will become local residents' playgrounds afterwards," Campbell said.

  Later in the day the premier met with Chi, who is a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker and the winner of the bronze medal in the 80m hurdles at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games.

  Hsieh, calling Chi Taiwan's "national treasure," said she would be the ideal candidate to promote Taiwan's bid to apply to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

  Chi affirmed the premier's idea to apply to host the games. She also urged Taiwanese people to believe in themselves.

  Using a proverb to expresses the idea that a situation is difficult but still has hope, Chi said: "I think the premier's idea is a ray of light through the valley, but we should be confident in ourselves and believe that we can make it."

  When he was asked how Taiwan would respond if China proposed that Beijing and Taipei co-host the 2020 Olympics, the premier didn't say anything and smiled.

  Chi, however, dismissed the idea.

  "China and Taiwan are both International Olympic Committee [IOC] members but their memberships are separate. In the past, there has never been a situation in which two IOC members co-hosted the Olympics. As a result, I think it is quite impossible," Chi said.

  Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) also endorsed Hsieh's proposal to apply to host the Olympics. But he noted that the most critical part of the plan would be to win the support of the nation's foreign friends.

  "When it comes to votes, Taiwan cannot do anything about it because it requires international support. The more the better," Chen said. "But we can and will keep working on that [diplomacy]."

  The Olympic issue began to develop on Wednesday morning, when Hsieh suddenly mentioned that Taiwan should apply to host the Olympic Games.

  In the 24 hours since his announcement, his idea has come under criticism, but he brushed this aside.

  "I think my fellow Taiwanese should work hand in hand on this issue. I do not understand why such an issue would become the target for political attacks," Hsieh said.
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