American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen is to participate in the ceremonial tip-off at a basketball game in Hsinchu today, as the institute begins a celebration of “sports diplomacy.”
The game between the Hsinchu Lioneers and the Taoyuan Pilots is to take place at the Hsinchu County Stadium, the institute said in a news release yesterday.
The game is being staged by P.League+, the nation’s professional basketball league.
Christensen’s participation is part of a broader series of activities celebrating sports diplomacy, and the ways that it has enhanced ties between people in Taiwan and the US, the institute said.
Among the events planned is a workshop on gender equality in sports, it said.
The workshop, which takes place on Friday next week, would be opened by AIT Public Affairs Officer Diane Sovereign, and attended by Liu Po-Chun (劉柏君) and Tzeng Yu-hsien (曾郁嫻), participants in the series, it added.
Also, the US Department of State is offering free access to a streaming documentary titled Willie, about the first black player in the US’ National Hockey League, it said, adding that people interested in the film should sign up before 4pm today.
In May last year, Christensen joined a virtual opening pitch with Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium to celebrate that the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) was still able to hold games, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around that time, Christensen suggested to league commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) that the CPBL might want to add “Taiwan” to its English-language promotional materials to prevent foreigners from thinking that the league was based in China, local media reported.
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