The Chinese Taipei Taekwondo Association (CTTA) denied rumors that it was to be suspended by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) as a result of its request for international arbitration in a case involving the disqualification of a Taiwanese athlete at last year’s Asian Games.
“There is no such move,” CTTA Chairman Chen Chien-ping (陳建平) said.
The association has not been warned of a possible suspension by the WTF, he said, rebutting media speculation.
Asked whether Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) would retract or follow through on the appeal she filed with the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport on Dec. 8, Sports Affairs Council Deputy Minister Steven Chen (陳士魁) said it was still unclear what Yang would do.
Meanwhile, a ranking WTF official who asked not to be named said in Seoul that the WTF would not comment on the rumors from Taiwan.
It has been a common practice that the WTF does not address its disciplinary committee’s decisions and rulings by its chairman, the official said.
In response, however, to rumors that Lee Cheng-yung (note: will get back to you later), a Taiwanese member of the WTF executive committee, warned the CTTA that it would be punished if the arbitration case went ahead, the WTF official said he believed that Lee made the warning out of concern for the rights of the CTTA and Yang.
Yang was controversially disqualified on Nov. 17 for allegedly wearing extra electronic sensors in her socks at the Asian Games, but replays of her bout showed that she had removed the two extra sensors before the contest began at the referee’s request.
The WTF banned Yang from competition for three months on Dec. 21 for protesting the disqualification by refusing to leave the ring.
Yang’s coach Liu Tsung-ta (劉聰達), who lodged a protest after the disqualification, was punished with a 20-month suspension, and the CTTA was fined US$50,000.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS