Star soccer players yesterday were joined by lawmakers from three parties at the Legislative Yuan to witness the inauguration of Taiwan’s first organized union for female athletes.
The Taiwan Women’s Football Players’ Association pledges to uphold their collective rights, improve game facilities and playing conditions, and seek equal pay with male players when playing on the women’s national team.
The association’s first chairwoman is Hualian City captain Wang Hsiang-hui (王湘惠).
Photo: CNA
Wang, 33, has returned to Taiwan after playing professionally in Japan and China.
This year, she led Hualien City to a historic double in local women’s soccer, as they won the Mulan League title and captured the Mulan League Cup, while last year’s champions the Taichung Blue Whale came in second in both competitions.
This is the second local union organized for sports players, after a union was formed for professional baseball players in 1995 and, after encountering many obstacles, was restarted in 2008, Wang said, adding that the association is the first union for female athletes in the nation.
Taichung Blue Whale striker Michelle Pao (包欣玄), who has also returned home after gaining international experience, was this year’s Golden Boot winner after scoring 21 goals.
Pao and Taipei Bravo Bear star Su Sin-yun (蘇芯芸) joined Wang in a display of solidarity for the launch of the female players’ union.
“Our aim is to improve players’ knowledge of the game and to work together to improve our positions when negotiating with club management,” Wang said. “In the future, we can help players negotiate their salaries with teams and protect the rights of female players.”
Women’s soccer could have a better environment in Taiwan, but there are disparities of resources, financial support and facilities compared with the men’s league, Wang said.
“Having a union is the first step toward female players having collective bargaining rights and a mechanism for filing complaints about unfair treatment,” Wang said, adding that female athletes also want improved medical treatment.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳), who heads the soccer governing body in Kaohsiung, presented a congratulations letter to the union from the Asian Football Confederation.
Legislators Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) of the New Power Party and Lai Hsiang-lin (賴香伶) of the Taiwan People’s Party showed their support for female soccer players in Taiwan, as did Chinese Taipei Football Association deputy secretary Chiao Chia-hong (焦佳弘) and Chou Ssu-chi (周思齊), chairman of the baseball players union and a veteran member of CTBC Brothers.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS