Donations flowed after people learned how Nantou Senior High School’s tug-of-war squad lacked funding to represent the nation at the international tug-of-war championships to be held in the Netherlands, school dean Huang Kuo-hsuan (黃國軒) said on Monday.
The school’s education foundation received NT$1.2 million (US$35,871) in donations, while a crowd-funding effort has generated NT$3.6 million in an online campaign, Huang said.
The school has halted fundraising as it has reached its goal of NT$4 million, Huang said, adding that any additional money would go toward training the athletes.
The squad is to represent Taiwan in the men’s 560kg and 640kg categories, the junior 560kg category and the open under-23 men’s 600kg category.
The squad started a fundraising hike of Yushan (玉山) on Tuesday last week, completing the hike to the mountain’s peak in 12 hours, the school said.
The event also served as high-altitude training, the school added.
The hike drew media coverage and the squad has since received funding from netizens and other members of the public, including popular music groups and singers such as May Day (五月天) and Kenji Wu (吳克群), the school said.
The efforts have also drawn the attention of legislative candidates from the two main political parties.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) on Monday said that the team faced financial difficulties three years ago when attending the world tug-of-war championships in South Africa.
At that time, Tsai contacted the Liason Office of the Republic of South Africa and Taiwanese expatriates in the nation to provide assistance for the team during their trip, Tsai said.
Tsai called on members of the public to help this year’s squad in any way possible and promised to help by looking for long-term corporate sponsors.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) said she has contacted the Ministry of Education’s Sports Administration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek assistance on behalf of the squad.
Hsu quoted the Sports Administration as saying that it would consider the possibility of providing funding as a special project.
A review committee is to be held tomorrow and the exact amount would be cleared within about two weeks, she quoted the administration as saying.
The school’s Parents’ Association chairman Pu Chih-ming (蒲志銘) said that considering the swiftness of funding arriving from the private sector, “one wonders why the government is always one step behind.”
Pu called on the government to consider earmarking money specifically to fund tug-of-war events, a sport in which Taiwan is considered adept.
The funds would help alleviate athletes’ worries when trying to raise money to cover travel expenses, Pu added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and