The Executive Yuan has allocated NT$6.3 billion (US$224.9 million) for a third phase of the National Sports Park Project and Training Plan for Sports Personnel (國家運動園區整體興設與人才培育計畫) since 2019, Executive Yuan spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said yesterday.
The announcement comes during a controversy over seating arrangements on a charter flight for the nation’s Olympic athletes.
Lo said that he hopes the seating issue will not distract from the government’s ongoing efforts to support the nation’s athletes.
Photo courtesy of Jhongshan Elementary School
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told legislators at a plenary session early this year that all national team athletes would be seated in business class on charter flights to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
However, on Monday’s flight to Tokyo, badminton player Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) took a photograph of herself sitting in economy class, and wrote that she missed flying with EVA Airways and sitting in business class.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Su soon apologized for the oversight, while Sports Administration Director-General Chang Shao-hsi (張少熙) on Tuesday offered to resign to take responsibility for the incident.
Media reports showed that only government officials, coaches and the Chinese Taipei Olympics Committee staff members sat in business class on the flight.
The incident drew much criticism from the public.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) said that the incident was the result of an oversight by the Executive Yuan’s Sports Development Committee, which has not convened for 18 months.
“We are deeply sorry that the Sports Administration mishandled the situation,” Lo said.
“Premier Su has asked the Ministry of Education to determine whether athletes and their coaches were seated in business class. Sports Administration officials must sit in economy class and stay at hotels that are the same quality as the athletes’ hotels,” Lo said.
Su and Pan care deeply about athletes and their careers, Lo said, adding that Su was a rugby player and Pan was an athlete as well.
The government has done a tremendous amount for athletes, Lo said, including approving a five-year budget for a third phase of national sports projects.
The government also budgeted NT$1.52 billion to help top athletes who retire transition into coaching careers, Lo said.
Thirty retired athletes have been recruited into the coaching program, he said, adding that the government plans to hire 70 more coaches following the Tokyo Games.
To prepare the nation’s athletes for the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris, the government has budgeted NT$300 million annually for the Golden Player Program, which provides athletes with assistance from professionals, Lo added.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
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
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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,
RSS