President Ma cheers Taiwan's East Asian Games athletes

Ma gave his best wishes to the athletes while presenting the flags and a meal bonus of NT$200,000 (US$6,185) to Hsieh Yu-hsing, a badminton player and the representative of the Chinese-Taipei team, at a ceremony held in the National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung City's Zuoying District.

“The year 2009 is a sports year of Taiwan, as our teams had outstanding performances in July's World Games in Kaohsiung and September's Deaflympics in Taipei,” the president said.

Ma said a strong body is the basis for a strong country and therefore the government is hoping to promote swimming and cycling as national sports for everyone to build a healthy life.

Held once every four years, the EAG is a major event in the Asian international sports arena. The first EAG was held in China (Shanghai) in 1993, followed by South Korea (Pusan) in 1997, Japan (Osaka) in 2001 and Macau in 2005.

The 5th East Asian Games will be held in Hong Kong from Dec. 5-13. Around 2,300 elite athletes from Chinese Taipei, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, and Guam will compete for gold medals in 262 competition events under 22 sports, making it the largest international multi-sport event ever held in Hong Kong.

Thomas Tsai, president of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, noted that in the 2005 Macau EAG, the Chinese-Taipei team competed in 17 sports and garnered 12 golds, 34 silvers, and 26 bronzes.

This year, the team will compete in a record 20 sports categories, Tsai said, expressing great confidence in the athletes.

Acknowledging that China is a very tough rival for the Chinese-Taipei badminton team, Hsieh said that the Chinese-Taipei team is still in a good position to compete for a top three place, as it is in very good form now.

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