Updates to this story
Headline on front page of an English language newspaper in Taiwan: "Man arrested for throwing eggs at Korean school" - followed by an "only in Taiwan" lead: "A 53-year-old man was arrested yesterday for throwing eggs at the Korean Elementary School in Taipei as he stood outside the school throwing eggs through the school gate."
He said he was so angry at South Korea over the disqualification of a Taiwanese Taekwondo athlete last week at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China that he had to act. Nothing against South Koreans, just venting, he said.
In fact, nationwide anger has been directed at South Korea because two of the main figures in the recent Taekwondo ''he said / she said'' incident were Korean or of Korean descent. Chien told reporters that his egg-throwing - a time-honoured protest tradition in Taiwan - was not directed at South Korean school children and that he never thought of hurting them.
He also threw eggs at the Taipei Korean School over the weekend, according to sources.
Racism is not just a European or an American construct. In Asia, as well, racism is embedded in various national prejudices and rears its ugly head from time to time. This week the virus has infected Taiwan. And it's going viral.
Sometimes these nationalistic hissy fits happen during regional baseball games, or soccer matches, or, as it did this past week, at a controversial taekwondo event at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China.
A female Taiwanese Taekwondo athelete was disqualified from her match due to some poorly-managed refereeing, in which a half-Korean Filipino referee and a shadowy South Korean games official were allegedly in cahoots with the Korean head of the Asian Taekwondo Union.
All hell broke loose.
Taiwanese athlete Shu-chun Yang was booted out for what were alleged to be illegal foot sensors in the opening bout of the women's under-49kg division.
Her alleged faux-pas? Using extra sensors on her electronic socks to increase her chances of scoring. She says she is innocent. The referees said she was guilty.
What ensued in the aftermath was pure post-match pandemonium, with Taiwan calling South Korea rather unsavoury names, and both governments weighing in with their version of the fighting mat events.
Communist China, wouldn't you know it, had an ace up its sleeve as well, if conspiracy theorists on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are to be believed.
Welcome to the Asian black hole of competing nationalism.
So how does this tempest in a Taekwondo ring impact trade relations between Taiwan and South Korea, maker of the popular Samsung Galaxy tablet? Well, for the time being, sales in Taiwan of the Galaxy tab have not been affected by growing Taiwanese anger over the controversial disqualification Su-chun Yang.
But things are a bit frosty between the two countries, and the so-called "bad call" could lead to trade issues in the electronics industry, according to reports.
"We have not felt any impact from anti-Korea sentiment on Samsung's Galaxy Tab so far because the supply of the product is limited,” the managing director of marketing for a major Taiwanese mobile business group told reporters. “We are not worrying about the situation. But we will decide if it is necessary to make any adjustment to product inventory based on the sales of the second allotment next week.”
Everyone here hopes that the simmering Taekwondo case will not boil over but will end soon under the negotiating of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
Samsung Electronics, for its part, hopes all this will fade away soon, hopefully to another galaxy far far away.
But the mood in Taiwan is one of deep anger at South Korea, and while the geo-diplomatic issues between North Korea and South Korea are putting the rest of the world - including Japan - on edge, Taiwan could care less.
All eyes right now are on Seoul, and the mood is good there. People here in Taiwan are angry.
"I will never eat Korean food again, or watch any more Korean movies or TV shows," Jonny Chen, an IT graduate student at Chung Cheng University in southern Taiwan told TechEye. "I will never set foot in that country, and even if they apologise for cheating Taiwan out of a gold medal at the Asian Games, I will never forgive them."
He speaks for legions here. South Korea and Taiwan, while neighbours in Asia and both enjoying colourful and energetic democracies in action, have often battled on sporting turf from baseball to football and Taekwondo. There is a ''history'' between these two sporting nations, and both countries sport long memories over perceived fouls.
Another student at Chung Cheng University said he didn't ''hate'' South Korea for the way its officials acted during the recent Taekwondo match, but she said she would never buy electronics made in Korea again.
"I'm angry," Ivy Tseng, 25, said. "If they treat us this way, I will buy my computers and phones from Japan or America. South Korea is in the doghouse, now, as far as I am concerned. Samsung is a dirty word in this country now. Maybe later, when all this blows over, I will forgive them, but for now, I dislike South Korea immensely. Don't mess with Taiwan!"
While most Taiwanese are a friendly and warm people, anger like this does spring up from time to time.
A restaurant in central Taiwan now sports a handmade sign in the window, in Mandarin: "Long live our Taiwanese taekwondo champs; no Koreans welcome inside!"
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"Going too far"
Taiwanese should refrain from nationalistic fervor
One of the most important elements of sportsmanship is fair play. For fair competition, there must be fair rules for all the players. In reality, however, fair rules are often ignored. A lack of fairness not only hurts players but also does harm to the spirit of sports activities. Thus, athletes, referees, sports organizers should work together to ensure sportsmanship.
Controversy has erupted over the disqualification of a female Taiwanese taekwondo athlete in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Yang Shu-chun was disqualified during a 49kg-class match with her Vietnamese opponent on Nov. 17, for using extra sensors in her footwear. It’s not hard to imagine how disheartened the athlete became as she was leading the contest 9-0. The referee disqualified her just 12 seconds before the end of the contest.
It is regrettable that the case has ignited anti-South Korean sentiment among the Taiwanese although it has nothing to do with the Asian neighbor. The clear fact is that the competition did not take place between a Taiwanese and a Korean. No Korean judge was involved in the decision against Yang. However, many Taiwanese seem to believe that South Korea had something to do with the ruling as the country holds a dominant position in the world taekwondo body.
What’s really worrisome is that the Taiwanese have gone too far in venting their anger over Yang’s disqualification at South Korea. There were reports of eggs being thrown at a Korean school in central Taipei and Korea’s national flags set on fire over the past few days. Some trampled on Korean-made instant noodles, while others smashed Korean electronic products with hammers. A group of enraged sports fans has launched a boycott campaign against goods imported from the country where the martial art sport originated.
To the eyes of people with reason and common sense, the flare-up of the anti-Korean sentiment could only be seen as irrational and bizarre behavior based on nationalistic fervor. Such a blind hatred against another nation or other people is not in line with the motto of the ongoing Asian Games: “Thrilling Games, Harmonious Asia.” All the participating countries are required to promote harmony and friendship in the region through the international competition.
Some Taiwanese media outlets are partly to blame for irresponsible reports bent on arousing public rage against South Korea. A few politicians are also under criticism for jumping on the “Korea bashing” bandwagon ahead of the Nov. 27 local elections. As things have gone from bad to worse, President Ma Ying-jeou called on the Taiwanese to remain rational in their expression of anger. We want to see the island nation solve the disqualification dispute in a reasonable way. The Taiwanese should bear in mind that Korea should not be a whipping boy.
''Report I just worked on says the manufacturer told both her and her coach AND her trainer when the footguards were purchased that they had been banned from competition since July and were strictly for training purposes only. On NO ACCOUNT should they be used in competition, they were clearly told. But they went ahead and used them anyway. Its unfortunate that the inspectors missed it during the pre-match inspection, but it seems pretty clear that these extra sensors can lead to extra points and it also seems pretty clear, at least according to the shop that sold them, that the Taiwanese were well aware of this.
Sounds to me, based on the evidence, that they’re just pissed at getting caught.''
[That is pretty much what another blogger in Taiwan said on his blog - but he went into much more detail and provided a video link for the disqualification and the subsequent disbelief(?) and refusal of Ms. Yang to leave the ring. (flashbacks to a boxing ring during the 88 Olympics)]
hahahahahaha. Please.
Best,
K
The Taipei Times has a decent editorial.
''The outbursts of anger some Taiwanese have directed at South Korea in the wake of the disqualification of Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, last week brought to the surface undercurrents that are certainly nothing to be proud of.
Not only was burning the South Korean flag, crushing instant noodles, hacking Web sites and throwing eggs at the Taipei Korean School misguided, these acts — with encouragement from some in the media — highlighted an underlying racism that does not put modern, democratic and pluralistic Taiwan in a favorable light. Such nationalistic bigotry, in fact, is the very poison that lies behind Beijing’s policy of isolating Taiwan and denying its people the right to a separate existence. ''
Yes, Yang was kicked off because of the extra sensors according to the rulings. However, pictures and videos out there clearly indicated that the sensors were never placed on the socks.
Therefore, the committee issued an apology, then condemned Yang for placing the sensors in the wrong position during their press release.
However, the manufacturer released another statement disproving the accusation.
One of the main reason taiwan is so pissed is because the entire committee is controlled by Korea even if the race differs.
It is not the first time south korea has cheated. Remember the world cup in 2002? Its not too hard to find several evident regarding the cheating of korea
It only shows that Taiwanese government and media are corrupted because they obviously report without confirmation and with biased views. The people of Taiwan, from the Taiwanese news I've encountered look as if they were uneducated, irrational and pathetic.
They should know that they are damaging the image of their land... If they wanted justice, as they claim the absence of act of cheating.... they should take it to the court, instead of going out of control like mad-dogs.
I'm sure some.... and I mean very few rational Taiwanese see that some of the false of this dispute in on the government and the media for encouraging this act of anti sentiment.
And... the viewers should also realize, despite the fact that Taiwan dislikes Korea so much, since they seem to make fun of Korea even on national news, they embrace the Korean culture; Korean entertainment industry, food and Taekwondo.
Taekwondo is known to be the most popular and played and liked sports in Taiwan because they won their FIRST gold medal in Taekwondo.
It is really hard to understand why Taiwan hates and loves Korea all at the same time, that it scares me sometimes.
I hope they find peace in themselves and realize that they are doing to prove their strong hatred proves that Taiwan is yet an undeveloped, irrational land.
BATRASHU LEE in Murrieta, California, USA, presumably of Korean heritage, tells the Taipei Times in a letter to the editor:
Stop insulting South Koreans
Dear Editor:
I read the recent articles in the Taipei Times this week regarding the disqualification of the Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun and the angry reaction of Taiwanese.
Let me ask you people in Taiwan this, and try to answer honestly: Isn’t it ignorant and barbaric for Taiwanese to be burning South Korean flags and refusing to let South Koreans enter certain restaurants?
The athlete was not -disqualified because she was Taiwanese. She was using equipment that was not allowed. It doesn’t matter who pointed that out.
She was the only taekwondo athlete who was using them in the competition.
Tell me what Taiwanese were doing when the South Korean baseball team played in Taiwan. Taiwanese were holding signs with derogatory statements that were insulting to South Koreans. The signs said things like “Sink Koreans like they sunk that Korean battleship,” “Destroy plastic-surgery-receiving Koreans.” These remarks aren’t about cheering for their own team, this is a major insult. It’s like asking for a war.
If you look back through history and see who started all this, it was Taiwanese. What have South Koreans done to insult Taiwanese? Recently a Taiwanese TV show insulted the South Korean singing group SNSD by showing their picture and talking about the South Korean entertainment industry involving sex.
When South Koreans complained, the Taiwanese TV show hosts involved laughed and said: “We weren’t that serious about our statements.”
What a way to apologize.
Ask yourselves who started the insults. Taiwanese have issues with China’s policy on Taiwan, right? Then why don’t you burn Chinese flags instead?
I’m sure Taiwan’s issues with China are much bigger and more important than an athlete being disqualified from a taekwondo competition. So you should use your energy to focus on real, important issues. Just because Taiwan isn’t strong enough to deal with the real issues, doesn’t mean you can take it out on other people, like is happening to Koreans.
If you look back, South Koreans never insulted Chinese or Taiwanese. If Taiwanese have working brains, they shouldn’t let this continue.
If Taiwanese continue what they are doing now, they are only asking for a war. In case we go to war, you know who will come out on top.
BATRASHU LEE
Murrieta, California
The competition between sportsware manufacturers is fierce.
This is a megabucks biz.
So cheating is rampant.
But olympic regulations are fierce to match the cheating, hopefully,
even if not always successfully.
The Taiwanese manufacturers tried to outfox the judges,
I think
(at the expense of the athletes).
so they could subsequently advertise/sell "olympic" footguards.
manufacturer 「Lajust」distributor in Taiwan "Tsai Chih-Kai " said,
old socks and electronic chip electronics are certified by the Asian Taekwondo Union, and the qualifying date to 2012/05/17.
Whatever, i think the process of the game is most important.
Because the truth is that Yang Shu-chun checked her socks before the game and change.
When start game also check ok, but that is very strange to say again her sock is error, especially when the game score 9:0.
I find the Apple Daily newspaper Action News in Motion Anime News：
http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/32982849/IssueID/20101123
(maybe you have to see to understand it.)
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Yang Shu-chun was disqualified amid controversy at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.World Taikwondo Federation (WTF) Secretary-General Yang Jin-Suk called her a cheater. But he repeatedly contradicted himself.First he said old-model sensor socks she wore were banned. Then he said she stuck the sensors in the wrong place.But all the sensors were manufactured to Korean design with pre-cut sensor patches, impossible to misplace. The sensor material was imported direct from the designer.Still the secretary general insisted that Yang cheated by sticking illegal sensors on her heels.But the pictures tell a different story.A judge said Yang's new model socks were not sensitive enough. She only passed equipment inspection after she changed to old-model socks.But before the bout, another judge told her to remove the sensors on her heels. She complied.The recording of the bout tells the whole story. There was no sensor patchs on Yang Shu-chun's heels during the match. Yang dominated the match 9-0 before she was wrongfully disqualified.Yang and her coach asked for a thorough investigation, which the secretary denied.Chinese Taipei coach Liu slammed the WTF saying they cannot explain why Yang is disqualified.Yang's mood has recovered somewhat. "It's one day later. The bout is over. Even though this outcome is hard to take, both for me and for all of us. We have to face up to reality. It's probably the worst day of my life."According to the Apple Daily's phone poll, almost 80 percent of Taiwanese support the boycott of Korean goods over this incident. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) formed a three-member panel to investigate the case. They interviewed Yang asking her if she knew the sensors on her heels were against code. Yang said she thought she was using WTF-approved gear. The panel asked when she applied the heel sensors. Yang said she did so at equipment inspection, before she was approved to fight.Asian Taekwondo Union President Lee Dai Soon expressed his regrets and said the case is undergoing investigation.
-- Jimmy Lai, for Apple Action News