Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) and Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) urged the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) yesterday to allow professional basketball teams to recruit players from China.
At a public hearing at the legislature, Ting said cross-strait sports exchanges remained one-sided despite warming cross-strait ties.
“Those who study international relations know that athletic exchanges are the least sensitive,” he said, adding that players on both sides of the Taiwan Strait could have a better understanding of each other if the government allowed Chinese players to join the Super Basketball League (SBL).
Chang said the issue should be made a priority of this year’s cross-strait exchanges, adding that having Chinese players on local teams would help enrich the diversity and spectacle of SBL games.
Chinese teams can compete against local teams now, but organizers can’t sell tickets.
Chinese professionals can also apply to stay temporarily for purposes other than “profitable activities,” in accordance with the Act Governing Approval for Mainland Area Professionals to Engage in Professional Activities in Taiwan (大陸地區專業人士來台從事專業活動?鴘k).
The act allows professionals in technical fields, however, to work in Taiwan and to stay for a maximum of six years.
Chang said Chinese basketball players should also be granted similar privileges because they are professional athletes.
He suggested the sports council set an annual quota for Chinese players in the SBL and established qualification requirements.
Chang denied that introducing Chinese players to the league would contradict President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) promise not to allow Chinese laborers to work in this country, saying the government would have to review teams’ applications on a case by case basis.
Sports Affairs Council Vice Minister Tseng Tsan-pao (曾參寶), who participated in the hearing, said the council was concerned if local players’ rights to work might be compromised if Chinese players were allowed into the league.
National Immigration Agency Deputy Director-General Ho Jung-chun (何榮村) said the government needs to evaluate if recruitment of Chinese players would affect the job opportunities for Taiwanese.
“If this is going to affect the opportunities of Taiwanese players, we can imagine how strong the opposition will be,” Ho said.
Chinese Taipei Basketball Association chairman Wang Jen-tar (王人達) supported the proposal, saying that China has tall basketball players Taiwan needs.
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