The Sports Administration yesterday said it would stop paying competition and training subsidies to speedskater Huang Yu-ting (黃郁婷) for two years as discipline for her behavior before and during the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The cessation of subsidies went into effect yesterday after a special meeting on Wednesday evening, said Lan Kun-ten (藍坤田), head of the Sports Administration’s Competitive Athletics Division.
The meeting was attended by members of the nation’s Olympic Committee and Skating Union, legal experts, academics and Huang herself, who is in Norway, via videoconference, media reports said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Huang was asked if she had anything to say, at which point she apologized, the reports said.
Huang and another skater reportedly filed for a joint training subsidy of NT$1.9 million (US$67,710) last year.
The controversy surrounding Huang began on Jan. 23 when she posted a training video on social media, showing her wearing the Chinese national team’s skinsuit.
Huang removed the post on Feb. 3 after it began attracting negative attention.
The 33-year-old skater later apologized, and while the Sports Administration criticized her for being insensitive to the subtleties of cross-strait politics, it initially said that she would not be punished.
Huang served as one of Taiwan’s two flagbearers at the Olympics’ opening ceremony, and was allowed to compete as planned.
However, Huang again attracted controversy when, after finishing 26th in the women’s 1,500m race on Feb. 19, she told the Beijing Daily: “I felt as if I were competing on home turf.”
Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said in a statement on Feb. 19 that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) had instructed the Ministry of Education — which is in charge of the Sports Administration — to conduct an investigation into Huang’s “inappropriate actions” and determine disciplinary action.
Huang did not return to Taiwan after competing at the Olympics, reportedly traveling directly to the US on Feb. 19, one day before the Games’ closing ceremony.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have criticized penalizing Huang, saying that laws and guidelines do not state that a Taiwanese athlete representing Taiwan abroad cannot wear the uniform of another country.
KMT Legislator Lee Guei-min (李貴敏) said that the government was creating an atmosphere of fear while encouraging anti-China sentiment.
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