A coalition of civic organizations yesterday filed a complaint with the Control Yuan, requesting a probe into whether negligence on the part of government officials played a role in the controversies caused by Taiwanese speedskater Huang Yu-ting (黃郁婷).
In the run-up to the Beijing Winter Games, Huang was criticized for posting a video of her training in a Chinese uniform, and sports officials drew flak after demands that she be removed as Taiwan’s flagbearer at the opening ceremony went unheeded.
During the Games, some of Huang’s comments again gave rise to controversy, such as the statement: “I felt like I was competing at home,” when thanking spectators for their enthusiasm after she placed 26th in the 1,500m race.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The Executive Yuan on Saturday last week ordered the Sports Administration to launch a probe into the matter.
Representatives from the Friends of Beanstalk Association, the Taiwan New Constitution Foundation and the Northern Taiwan Society, among others, yesterday gathered outside the Control Yuan in Taipei, and requested that the Ministry of Education be censured and implicated officials be impeached.
They singled out Acting Sports Administration Director-General Lin Terng-chiao (林騰蛟), Sports Administration Deputy Director-General Lin Che-hung (林哲宏) and Sports Administration Deputy Director-General Hung Chih-chang (洪志昌).
Former Control Yuan member Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), chairman of the Friends of Beanstalk Association, condemned the ministry for what he called inadequate supervision and mishandling of Taiwan’s participation in the opening ceremony, saying that the public has lost trust in the government because of this.
Many nations called for a diplomatic boycott of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Games to condemn China’s treatment of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang, he said.
Taiwan initially said that it would not attend the opening ceremony, he said, adding that not only did the Sports Administration send athletes to the ceremony, but it chose Huang, who had downplayed the place of national identities in sports, as the flagbearer.
The Control Yuan has the responsibility to oversee and assess whether government agencies act legally and according to the Constitution, the Friends of Beanstalk Association said in a news release, expressing the hope that the Control Yuan would censure any wrongdoing in administrative decisionmaking, and impeach those responsible for words or deeds that hurt the nation’s interests.
The New Power Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union yesterday also lend support to the groups’ complaint.
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