To the surprise of assembled journalists, Premier Frank Hsieh (
"With more and more outstanding and remarkable achievements by Taiwanese athletes, I think it is time for us to go for the application," Hsieh said. "To host the Olympic Games would be a great promotion for Taiwan, anyway."
Hsieh made his remarks during the opening speech for the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
Speaking on behalf of Hsieh, Cabinet Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (
"We are definitely capable of organizing an international game like this," Cho said. "Taiwan is growing stronger and stronger in every aspect, including sports. More and more Taiwanese athletes, such as Los Angeles Dodger Chen Chin-feng (
Cho said that Taiwan is a small country, but it is definitely capable of organizing such an international event. Taiwanese people will prove this during the 2008 World Games in Kaohsiung, he said.
However, Cho also said that although Taiwanese athletes have proved to the world that Taiwanese people are eligible to host international games, basic construction on infrastructure such as gyms, pools and tracks has yet to begin and must be hurried up.
"We must have a dream, and we must be confident in ourselves that our dream can be carried out, sooner or later," Cho said.
The spokesman suggested that Taiwan shall organize more international games between 2008 and 2013 for promotion purposes, since the host of the 2020 olympics will not be decided until 2013.
Cho did not clearly state which city in Taiwan would be nominated to the make the application.
"Although Kaohsiung will be the city for the 2008 World Games, it is not necessary to have the same city represent Taiwan in the application to the International Olympic Committee to host the 2020 Olympic Games," Cho said.
"Every city in Taiwan has the chance," the spokesman said. "I would encourage everybody to do their best to fight for the representation of Taiwan and go for the 2020 Olympic Games."
To become a winner of the competition to host the Olympic Games, the city must come from a country whose athletes are remarkable and whose economic system is healthy, Hsieh said.
"As long as we keep trying, there must be a chance for us," Hsieh said. "If we care more about sports, we will be able to do it."
Also see story:
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS