A bitter pill for Taiwan indeed....as Reuters reports:China, playing in their first Olympic baseball competition, upstaged Taiwan 8-7 on Friday in a game that went into extra innings and stopped work in Taipei as incredulous fans watched events unfold on television.
The game was so important that Taiwan's baseball chief had offered to resign if his team, officially named "Chinese Taipei" because of political sensitivities with China, lost. Other heads could roll as well, he said ahead of the Olympics.
"It's just like in history," said Mao Ai-fen, a government employee in the northern Taiwan port city of Keelung. "Last night we lost to (former coloniser) Japan, and today we lost to the Communist bandits. This is totally outside expectations."
Added a man surnamed Huang, 50, as he watched the action on television in downtown Taipei: "They should all go jump in the sea. This is the end for the Taiwan team."
Baseball represents one of Taiwan's few medal hopes at the Games. China had only qualified by virtue of hosting the Olympics.
Brutal, just brutal.
[Taiwan]
Communist bandits? Jump into the sea? Some of these guys need to get with the times...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not what I would have expected, though.
Even though it is quite pointless, I have also thought about the historical dimension of their last matches. First Holland, then Japan, then China. Even the sequence of the games fits.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I hope Team Taiwan can bounce back.
Taipei 101, August 16
ReplyDeleteTaipei 101 was transformed into a sports arena. Screens throughout the tower were tuned to the Taiwan-China game and cheers and yells echoed through the building.
It was moving to see the hundreds of faces of people cheering every pitch, , every hit, and every run of Taiwan's team, as well as cheering every strike, foul or ball pitched against China.
The desire to win was palpable, but had more to do than just baseball. You could sense there was something more at stake than athletic prowess. It had something to do with hope...
I'm glad I didn't stay and see the final result.
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Take a look at this blog article about the Taiwan / China game from the MSNBC site. For the most part, it is actually quite good. Like this passage...
When Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist Party lost the civil war against Mao Zedong and his Communist Party in 1949, they fled to Taiwan and established their government there – thus creating the schism between island and mainland that persists to this day.
How the country is recognized in the international venue of the Olympics has been an issue ever since. During the Cold War, China’s Communist leaders demanded that the International Olympic Committee banish Taiwan from competition. But when the IOC refused, partly due to strong backing of Taiwan from the United States, China withdrew from the committee in 1958 and stopped participating in subsequent Olympic Games.
China’s self-imposed exile lasted until 1979, at which point all parties agreed on the terminology for Taiwan during the Olympics: Chinese Taipei. They also designated a special Olympic flag that Chinese Taipei could fly during the games.
They fall into the trap of "warmer relations" because of PandaMa, but overall it's quite good.
Good for Petra Cahill! How refreshing!
TAIWAN RIVALRY TAKES TO THE BASEBALL FIELD
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It's too bad CMW is injured (I assume that's why he isn't on the team this year) and couldn't dominate everyone.
ReplyDeleteActually, of course CMW isn't playing because 1) he's injured, 2) he's in the MLB which won't allow their players to take a break to play in the Olympics.
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Take a look at this China Daily article with Wu Poh-hsiung and James Soong enjoying a game with their friend from the polit-bureau in Beijing.
Ahh...how sweet!
Jia Qinglin watches Olympic baseball match with leaders of KMT, PFP
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Here's a quote from the KMT chairman in Beijing...
Taiwan's Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung said the Beijing Olympics was a glorious grand event for the whole Chinese nation as he finished his mainland visit on Friday.
"I cheer for athletes from both the mainland and Taiwan, and I wish a complete success of the Beijing Olympics," Wu told a press conference Friday before boarding the plane from Xiamen to Taipei, ending his ancestral home visit in southeast China's Fujian Province.
KMT chairman: Olympics grand event for whole nation
Another interesting thing...
I haven't found one Chinese state media article about the Taiwan / China game. You would think that this would be a proud moment for the Chinese, no? I guess the same thinking maybe at issue here as that fan that could not support either team because they are both from the same country (reference to the article I posted above).
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What is tragic is that a sports event can carry so many political undertones...
ReplyDeleteWonder why these guys did so bad.
This kind of sports event, of a game being transcended by wider contexts, is nothing new. It happens twice a year when Real Madrid play Barca, four times a year when Celtic play Rangers...if people want to jump in the sea over it then let 'em! I bet they dont.
ReplyDeleteI'm annoyed that most articles about this game didn't mention the 11th inning intentional walk. I know it's within the rules, but man, that's just eeeevil.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could've been at 101 to witness the game with the crowds. What I love about Taiwanese Olympics is that it's *not* solely about getting the gold -- and that it's okay to admit defeat -- but it still kind of stings.
i do not watch olympics. i am ignoring this show..
ReplyDeletetherefore
Taiwan finally accepts pandas from China
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4657409a12.html
Taiwan to soften diplomatic approach under new leader
ReplyDeletehttp://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTP18185920080815
Taiwan, the UN, what’s in a name?
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/08/15/2003420416
Am I the only one who thinks that our manager (I.C. Hong) is overtly conservative when it comes to playing by the book? In the last two games we've seen our power hitters reduced to making sacrifice bunts, simply because there's one guy on first. The end result is that we always end up (if we're lucky) with a guy stuck on third with two outs and no way to score.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's just me, but I'd like to see us take more chances with our power hitters. Our pitchers performed well enough in the Cuba game, but it's pointless if we can't bring in the runs. All it takes is one defense error and we're screwed.
"Communist bandits" (共匪) is right on. The Chicoms are as bad as ever -- why start mincing words now?
ReplyDeleteLets be more positive about this, one could say it was a great victory for the Zhonghua-Minzu!
ReplyDelete:)
LOL. chinese Han child wearing traditional russian farmer clothes.. what does it mean?
ReplyDeleteChinese Han child wearing traditional mongolian clothes..what does this mean?
why should it be Happy Olympics?
aside that its nice to know that EU leads in golden medals collecting..