Hackers attacked the Web site of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) after it punished Taiwanese athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) for protesting her disqualification at the Asian Games in Guangzhou last month, media reported yesterday.
On Tuesday, the federation announced it was suspending Yang for three months and her coach, Liu Tsung-ta (劉聰達), for one year and eight months over a ringside protest about her disqualification for allegedly using extra sensors on her socks.
“Still unfair,” hackers wrote on the federation’s Web site on Tuesday night, Central News Agency reported.
PHOTO: YEH SHIH-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The Seoul-based federation announced the suspensions in a -letter to the Chinese Taipei Amateur Taekwondo Association. It also fined the association US$50,000 for “negligence and wrongdoing” for its role in the controversy.
“The outcome was worse than expected,” association chief Chen Chien-ping (陳建平) said.
Chou Rui (周瑞), deputy director of the Sports Affairs Council’s International Sports Department, said the council was not satisfied with the ruling.
“We will continue by preparing an appeal for Yang at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland,” he said.
Yang’s bout was stopped and she was disqualified while leading 9-0 in the first round because her socks, with detachable electronic sensors, were ruled illegal. However, video footage of the fight showed that she had removed the sensors before the bout began.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to step up diplomatic pressure on South Korea to help Yang clear her name.
During a meeting in the legislature, Chou asked Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Thomas Hou (侯平福) to find out if Representative to South Korea Benjamin Liang (梁英斌) had clearly explained the matter to the WTF.
“I was really angry [at the WTF ruling] … the ministry must toughen the government’s position,” he said.
The ministry should intensify diplomatic measures, Chou said.
“You can’t just sit there and say this is the sports council’s -business,” Chou said, adding that the controversy should be treated as a matter of diplomatic affairs.
Chou said the ministry must help Yang clear her name and defend the interests of the nation.
Hou told lawmakers that he was “as angry as [Chou].”
“I am afraid there isn’t much the ministry can do, as WTF members are all South Koreans,” Hou said.
However, he said he agreed with Chou that the government “should not accept the results.”
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