Neither the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) nor the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU) has received notice from the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) that Taiwan's right to participate in international taekwondo competitions has been suspended, SAC Deputy Minister Chen Hsien-tsung (陳顯宗) said yesterday.
Chen made the remarks after Coleman Lee (李正勇), a Taiwanese member of the WTF Council, was quoted by local media as saying that the ATU president told him that the union was dissatisfied with the Chinese Taipei Taekwondo Association's (CTTA) penalty against Zheng Dawei (鄭大為), who served as the referee at the East Asian Games in Hong Kong last year.
Zheng was one of the referees for a 72kg-level championship match where Taiwanese athlete Tseng Ching-hsiang (曾敬翔) was scheduled to compete against a South Korean opponent. Tseng was punched in the throat, a move many people believed was a malicious attack. Zheng, however, ruled the South Korean athlete scored, which also helped the athlete secure the championship.
Minister without Portfolio Ovid Tseng (曾志朗), who led the Taiwanese team at the East Asian Games and watched the entire match on the sideline, protested against what he saw as an unfair ruling as soon as the match was over.
When he returned to Taiwan, Zheng said in a television interview that Ovid Tseng had no right to protest and may be seen as intending to cause riots. Because of the comment, the CTTA's disciplinary committee suspended Zheng from coaching taekwondo and refereeing for three years. The committee later decided to reinstate his right to be a referee, but his right to coach remained suspended.
Lee was reported by local media as saying that the penalty was perceived as an outright challenge to the ATU's authority.
In a brief statement issued on Monday night, the SAC said it would use every means possible to resolve this matter, adding that it was trying to contact Lee and ask him to do everything he can to communicate this matter with the ATU.
The SAC said it has also asked Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國), a Taiwanese member at the International Olympic Committee, for assistance.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
POLICY UNCHANGED? Despite Trump’s remarks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that US policy toward Taiwan has remained consistent since the 1970s US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again refused to make clear his stance on protecting Taiwan from a hypothetical takeover by China during his presidency. Asked by a reporter during a Cabinet meeting whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president, Trump declined to give a definitive answer. “I never comment on that,” he said. “I don’t comment on it because I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.” Trump also reiterated that he has a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and said that Washington welcomes good relations with
RSS