The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned what it called discrimination against Taiwan by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) after it declined to recognize first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) as leader of Taiwan's delegation to the Paralympic Games in Athens.
In a letter addressed to Linda Chen (陳李綢), president of Taiwan's National Paralympic Committee (NPC), on Monday, the IPC explained its policy prevented anyone who was not a serving NPC president, secretary-general or vice president from assuming team leadership at the Games.
"For this reason, the only persons entitled to NPC accreditation in the case of Chinese Taipei are: Ms. Linda Chen as the NPC President and Mr. Liu Pei-ling [
It added: "As agreed before, Ms. Wu Shu-chen and her party can be accredited as GTs [transferable guest]."
Chen, who traveled to Malaysia on Wu's behalf to apply for an NPC card in July, said she clearly told the Paralympics authorities at the time that Wu would lead Taiwan's team to the Games.
"They happily accepted that Wu is the leader of our team, not me. If they intend to oppress us by appointing me as leader of our team, I will not accept that," she told reporters.
The IPC was merely looking for an excuse in citing the regulation, ministry spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said.
"The ministry has checked the identities of leaders of Paralympic teams from 145 countries. The leaders of teams from Australia, New Zealand, Honduras, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, Nigeria, the US and South Africa do not fit the IPC accreditation policy either," he said.
"The IPC apparently discriminated against Taiwan," Lu said, adding the ministry was indignant that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan (
China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman, Zhang Mingqing (
China's "irrational and inappropriate" interference in the Games was absolutely unacceptable, Lu said.
He said Wu would continue her original schedule in Athens and that the ministry supported all decisions made by Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳), who is accompanying Wu.
"The IPC's bullying is unendurable. It succumbed to behind-the-scenes forces of darkness to oppress Taiwan," Huang said on Tuesday.
If the leaders of other teams to the Games had been either NPC presidents or secretaries-general, Taiwan would not have objected to the IPC's request to change the leader of Taiwan's team, Huang said.
But many others among the team leaders were neither presidents or secretaries-general, he said.
"The IPC's maneuvering is quite simply brutal," Huang added. "Is Taiwan a second-class member of the IPC?"
Taiwan's team has sent a protest letter to the IPC and requested a response be made as soon as possible, Huang said.
"We will of course not accept the GT card which the IPC offered to Wu. The cards are the lowest level of all VIP cards. It is just absurd that the IPC downgraded Wu's NPC card to a lowly GT card," he said.
The Presidential Office said yesterday that Wu made an appearance at the Paralympics Athletes Village on Tuesday to boost the Taiwanese athletes' morale in her capacity "as leader of the Taiwan team."
After the meeting, Wu visited an archeological museum in Athens in the afternoon.
She hosted a dinner banquet for seven Greek congressmen at the hotel where she is staying, a press release said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS