Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to provide evidence to support its allegation that a Chinese member of the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU) was behind the controversial qualification of Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) at the Asian Games.
“Until now, we have not seen the DPP provide any evidence in its accusation of a specific person masterminding the disqualification. The government has decided to seek international arbitration to bring justice to Yang and the country,” Wu said.
DPP lawmakers have fingered Zhao as the central figure behind Yang’s disqualification. DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) alleged “the whole thing is a conspiracy by Zhao so that his student, Wu Jingyu (吳靜鈺), could win the gold medal.”
Saying there were no South Korean athletes competing in the same category as Yang, Tsai added that he suspected judge Hong Sung-chon accommodated Zhao’s “scheme” to curry favor with China.
Wu on Tuesday spoke in defense of Zhao, citing an example that the Chinese official was the one who intervened initially when the ATU sought to penalize Yang following her disqualification.
Wu yesterday said he remembered the name incorrectly, saying that the Chinese official who spoke out against the ATU’s planned punishment for Yang was Cao Tao (曹濤), who is in charge of the Asian Games taekwondo competition, and not Zhao.
Taiwan appealed to the Olympic Council of Asia last Friday to investigate Yang’s disqualification using video footage and other evidence to disprove the ATU’s accusations against Yang. The council subsequently agreed to investigate.
The footage showed that Yang did not have illegal sensors attached to the heels of her socks during the match, an allegation that was first called into question by Zhao, Wu said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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