The Sports Administration on Friday said it would ask the Taiwanese kendo association to lodge a protest with the International Kendo Federation (FIK) after a Taiwanese athlete was allowed to represent China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, earlier this month.
The administration made the remarks after YouTuber Potter King (波特王) uploaded a video alleging that a Taiwanese kendo practitioner identified as Su Yu-cheng (蘇郁程) competed for the Chinese team at the championship from July 4 to July 7.
The administration asked the association to look into Su’s identity while informing the Tokyo-based federation, the organizer of the world championships, of the matter and to check what nationality he used when he competed.
Photo from Su Yu-cheng’s Facebook
Su, as a Taiwanese national, should be disqualified if he represented China, the administration said, adding that it would resort to relevant laws if it is confirmed that he competed as a Chinese national.
The FIK later confirmed that the Chinese kendo association had applied for Su to participate in the competition using his Xiamen, China, residence and work permit, the Taiwanese association said.
Based on the rules of the tournament, competitors can apply to compete for a country without a passport if the head of a national kendo association submits an application to the FIK.
The Taiwanese kendo association said Su is a long-term resident in Xiamen, but it was not yet known if he had switched his citizenship to the People’s Republic of China.
The matter has been handed over to the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), it added.
Last week, MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) cited the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) as saying that Taiwanese nationals may not have household registration in China or hold passports issued by Beijing.
“We will revoke his Taiwanese nationality if he holds Chinese nationality,” Liang said.
In an interview video uploaded by Excellence (卓越電子報) on YouTube in November last year, Su said he came from Taipei and that “I want to revive the kendo culture of the Chinese nation. I want to represent China’s national team at the world championships.”
Following the tournament, he wrote in a Facebook post he and his teammates “have prepared for our same dream for six years.”
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS