Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) yesterday said a decision by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) last week to suspend taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) over a footwear controversy constituted bullying.
“Yang was bullied,” Tai told a meeting at the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee.
Asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Shu-hui (陳淑慧) to assess the situation, Tai said she “absolutely agreed” the nation was bullied by the WTF and the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU) over the controversy.
Tai made the remark in response to the WTF’s decision on Tuesday last week to ban Yang from participating in -competitions for three months and to suspend Yang’s coach, Liu Tsung-ta (劉聰達), for one year and eight months.
The Chinese Taipei Taekwondo Association was fined US$50,000 because Yang and Liu protested the decision ringside at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, on Nov. 17.
Yang was disqualified for allegedly breaking the rules by wearing extra electronic sensors in her socks to register more points.
She was leading her opponent 9-0 when she was disqualified and a dumbfounded Yang refused to leave the arena for an extended period of time despite requests by officials for her to do so.
Video replays of the match showed Yang had removed the two sensors before the fight. -Inconsistent explanations by taekwondo officials about Yang’s disqualification raised questions about the legitimacy of the dismissal and sparked anger among Taiwanese against the WTF, ATU and even South Koreans.
Tai said that although the government would not give up appealing the decision on Yang’s behalf at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, the nation did not have the authority to either accept or reject the suspension ruling.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS