Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is willing to go to Beijing to resolve the cancelation of the East Asian Youth Games, if the Chinese government approves his visit, he told an international news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The Taichung City Government has lodged an official complaint with the East Asian Olympic Committee (EAOC) over its decision to cancel Taichung’s right to host the first East Asian Youth Games in August next year, he said.
The committee cited a proposed referendum on changing the name of Taiwan’s national team when it participates in the 2020 Olympic Games and other international events as its reason for canceling next year’s competition in Taichung.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“If it [China] lets me go, I will go,” Lin said. “We will not spare any effort. “
Lin was asked if he might make a statement similar to that made by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who last year said that Taiwan and China are part of one family, which some speculate might be why Beijing did not interfere with the Taipei Universiade last summer.
“I will tell China that cross-strait relations should begin with mutual respect and communication with one another, and that both sides can resolve disputes rationally. What terms we would use to describe the relationship is not the point. What matters are the actual relations between the two sides,” he said.
The damage caused by the incident could leave an indelible stain on cross-strait relations, despite Taiwan’s attempt to build a friendly relationship with Beijing, he said.
Asked if Olympic bronze medalist Chi Cheng (紀政) should resign as the honorary chief consultant of the organizing committee, as she is one of the main advocates for the referendum, Lin said Chi and International Olympics Committee member Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國) serve as chief consultants because of their sports expertise.
Chi’s work for the organizing committee and her exercising her right to propose a name-change referendum should be treated as separate matters, he said, adding that the proposal has yet to become a referendum question.
“In Taiwan, democracy, freedom, human rights and proposing a referendum are our rights. If we blame our own people for exercising their democratic rights, we will never hear the end of it,” he said.
The city has exercised its rights, based on the East Asian Games Association Constitution and the host city contract for the Games, to file a complaint, Lin said, adding that it hopes that the complaint would be handled as soon as possible.
“If we voice our objection, then more people will know about the situation, even though it might not change the result,” he said.
Taiwan’s existence could never be more meaningful at this difficult time, he said.
The main points in the city’s complaint to the EAOC are: One, the abrupt cancelation of the East Asian Youth Games contravened the EAOC’s constitution; two, prior to the committee’s resolution on July 25 to cancel the Games, it failed to inform Taichung of any contravention of or failure to comply with the contract; three, Taichung was not given any opportunity to explain or defend itself against the accusations related to the name-change referendum; four, the EAOC’s letter to Taichung did not give a substantial reason for its resolution, nor did it explain any contravention on the part of the city.
Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Taiwan would never back down on its democratic way of life in the face of relentless pressure and threats from China, but would continue to contribute to regional peace and stability.
“Taiwan, as a responsible member of the international community, will not back down under pressure,” she said yesterday when she met a group led by Juli Minoves-Triquell, president of Liberal International, a political international federation for liberal political parties, at the Presidential Office.
“Taiwan will continue to play a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability, and working with like-minded countries and international organizations to defend shared values,” she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS