Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday offered to assist Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in the city’s preparatory work for the Summer Universiade, scheduled for August next year.
Hau made the remarks amid calls that Ko should cancel the international sporting event, which has become a target of criticism amid reports that renovation work for some venues has fallen behind schedule and the city faces a heavy financial burden.
The Taipei Department of Sports said renovations at 48 venues had not been contracted out.
Hau said he strongly opposes “naysayers” on the Universiade, adding he is willing to assist Ko in preparing for the event.
He said the nation made painstaking efforts to apply to host the event, suffering four setbacks along the way, including three unsuccessful applications by the Kaohsiung City Government.
The Universiade could boost the nation’s international profile, Hau said, as he urged President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to lend its support to Taipei.
Making the Universiade successful would be a demonstration of the nation’s pride and confidence, while withdrawing would attract international criticism and cast the nation in a bad light, he said.
Taipei Secretary-General Su Li-chung (蘇麗瓊), who is also the chief executive officer of the Universiade, welcomed Hau’s offer.
Su said that a team of organizers would visit Hau for advice.
Asked if the absence of a sports commissioner in Ko’s administration would negatively affect the Universiade, Su said the city government would find a replacement for Hung Chia-wen (洪嘉文) — whose resignation Ko approved on Monday — before next month.
She asked the public not to be worried about the progress on the event’s preparatory work, saying that the city has had smooth communications with the International University Sports Federation, which has expressed its approval of Taipei’s work so far.
Separately, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said he would instruct the Ministry of Education to monitor the progress of the renovation work at schools with venues allocated for the Universiade. Lin said that if Ko asked for help, he would do his best to assist the city.
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