The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday asked the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to refrain from getting involved in sports associations.
The Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday that a number of KMT politicians would run for leadership positions at the nation’s sports associations.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) told a press conference that the KMT Central Standing Committee had asked KMT legislators to run for chairperson of the associations.
PHOTO: CNA
“Sports in Taiwan would be finished if sports associations fell under the control of politicians,” Chiu said.
The KMT should not try to expand its influence into sports, which should be run by professionals in the field, she said.
KMT Legislator Huang Chih-hsiung (黃志雄), a former Olympic medalist, responded by saying that not everything was politically motivated.
Huang told reporters that it would be acceptable for a lawmaker to head a sports associations as long as that person cared about developing the sport.
It is normal for political parties to strengthen their support bases in this way, Huang said, adding that every political party did so.
“For example, the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association is headed by [former DPP legislator] Kuo Jeng-liang [郭正亮],” Huang said.
But Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Spokesperson Chen Shu-rong (陳淑容) yesterday denied that the party had asked its legislators to seek influence at sports associations, saying the Central Standing Committee had never discussed the matter.
When asked for comment, KMT Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千), who the China Times reported would run for chairman of the basketball association, said he was not interested.
KMT Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) also dismissed rumors that he hoped to take over the badminton association.
“Frankly speaking, I don’t play badminton very often,” he said.
“I was once invited to run for chairman of the Chinese Taipei Swimming Association, but I don’t know how to breathe properly when swimming, so I said to them: ‘What if I sink to the bottom of the pool’” Chou said.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said yesterday that the chairman of the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA, 中華籃協), Wang Jan-da (王人達), should not seek to maintain control over the association once his term ends.
Wang had held the post for 20 years, Kao said, and during that time Taiwan’s international rankings in basketball had dropped.
He said Wang’s term would end this year, but it was likely that Wang’s son or another person representing Wang would run for the post.
Kao said the Sports Affairs Council should urge Wang to let go of the post.
Also yesterday, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) criticized the council’s supervision of its funding.
Although the council funds the nation’s sports associations, it does not have a mechanism to review how the money is spent, she said, which explains why the nation’s showing in sports is weak.
Chen Ting-fei said the council had budgeted NT$1.62 billion (US$49 million) to promote baseball, but allowed local governments to use the money to build local government baseball teams.
Some hired senior baseball players who had been fired by professional baseball teams for their involvement in gambling, she said.
The council did not use the budget to fund school teams responsible for training young players, she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
‘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 wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS