President Tsai Ing-wen said July 31 that the government fully backs Taiwan’s athletes and is taking all possible steps to ensure they remain focused on training and representing the nation with honor in the sporting arena.
The needs of the athletes are paramount and this is reflected in related government policymaking, Tsai said. Case in point is the ongoing program of expansion and upgrades over the past two years to the National Sports Training Center, she added.
The president made the remarks while visiting with athletes based at NSTC in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City. Established in 1976 as Zuoying Training Center prior to the Montreal Olympics of the same year, NSTC is tasked with key missions such as selecting, training and developing elite talents and coaches.
According to Tsai, another example is the appointment of Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying—the No.1 women’s singles player as ranked by the Badminton World Federation—to the board of the NSTC. It is anticipated this high-profile move will inspire more athletes to enter facility and program management once their careers are at an end and assist the stars of tomorrow, she said.
Athletes are expected to espouse the highest levels of sportsmanship during competition, the president said. The same standard applies to the performance of the organizations and officials entrusted with overseeing international tournaments, she added.
The abrupt, politically motivated decision by the East Asian Olympic Committee to strip Taichung City in central Taiwan of the 2019 East Asian Youth Games flies in the face of this basic expectation, Tsai said, adding that politics and sports should never mix.
This act denied Taichung of its right to host the games, the president said. It also took away the right of the students from the nine EAOC members Taiwan, China, Guam, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea and South Korea to compete after years of training, she added.
According to Tsai, the government supports Taichung’s EAOC appeal and urges all like-minded countries to stand with the metropolis in its quest for justice. Sport is supposed to bring people together, not leave them divided, she said.
The president also took the opportunity to encourage NSTC athletes preparing for the Asian Games running Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The people of Taiwan are hoping for great things, Tsai said, adding that she has every confidence the team will do Taiwan proud. (SFC-E)
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