The Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to establish a ministry of sports by August next year, with an allocated budget of NT$20 billion (US$621.74 million).
The new ministry would include a “sports-for-all” administration and three non-departmental public bodies: the national sports training center, national sports science center and national sports industry development center, the plan proposed by the Ministry of Education showed.
The ministry would have six departments in charge of dissimilar matters: international affairs, athletics, industry and technology, facilities planning, comprehensive planning and adaptive sports.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
The bills included an organic law for the ministry of sports, an organic law for the ministry’s sports-for-all administration, an act for the establishment of the ministry’s national sports industry development center and a proposal to abolish the Organic Law of the Sports Administration, Ministry of Education (教育部體育署組織法).
Amendments were proposed to the Basic Code Governing Central Administrative Agencies Organizations (中央行政機關組織基準法), the Organizational Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法), the Organization Act of the Ministry of Education (教育部組織法), the Act for Establishment of the National Sports Training Center (國家運動訓練中心設置條例) and the Act for Establishment of the National Sports Science Center (國家運動科學中心設置條例).
At the post-meeting news conference, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) as saying that the ministry would be set up in line with President William Lai’s (賴清德) policy to make Taiwan’s sports ecosystem thrive.
The goal is to build Taiwan into a nation with sports equity, social inclusion and sustainable developments, as well as enhance Taiwan’s international participation and influence, she quoted Cho as saying.
At least NT$20 billion has been allocated for the next fiscal year, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told the news conference, adding that he hoped the ministry could come into operation by August next year.
The ministry would employ about 400 personnel, 100 of whom would work for the sports-for-all administration, Kung said.
Although supervisors and deputy ministers are expected to be people qualified as college professors or associate professors, the Executive Yuan would respect the agency’s decisions if other specialists are recruited, Kung said.
To clearly define division of labor, the Ministry of Education would be responsible for constructing, managing and maintaining on-campus sports facilities designed for student use, such as swimming pools and all-weather running tracks, he said.
However, public use of these facilities or advanced athletic equipment outside of school, as well as the curricular design and funding for sports classes would be managed by the sports ministry, Kung said.
Asked whether the sports-for-all administration would take up the personnel quota of the new immigrants development preparatory office, another third-level agency to be established, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Deputy Director-General Huai Hsu (懷敘) yesterday said the set-up of the ministry of sports would not make the total number of third-level agencies exceed 70, as required by the Basic Code Governing Central Administrative Agencies Organizations (中央行政機關組織基準法).
Details about the establishment of the new immigrants development preparatory office is being explored by the Ministry of the Interior and would later be sent to the Executive Yuan for further review, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS