Taiwan asks kendo association to protest over player representing China

Taipei, July 20 (CNA) The Sports Administration on Friday said it will ask the Republic of China (Taiwan) Kendo Association to lodge a protest with the International Kendo Federation after a Taiwanese athlete was allowed to represent China in the recently-held world kendo championships in Italy.

The administration made the remarks after YouTuber Potter King uploaded a video recently alleging that a Taiwanese kendo practitioner identified as Su Yu-cheng (蘇郁程) was among the Chinese team competing at the 2024 World Kendo Championships from July 4-7 in Milan.

The administration subsequently asked the association to look into Su's identity while informing the Tokyo-based federation, the organizer of the world championships, of the matter and checking under which nationality he competed.

Su, as a Taiwanese national, should be disqualified if he represented China, the administration said, adding that it would resort to relevant laws should it be confirmed he competed as a Chinese national.

According to the association, the federation later confirmed that a Chinese kendo association had applied for Su to participate in the Milan competition using his Xiamen residence and work permit.

Based on the rules of the tournament, competitors can apply for participation without a passport if the head of a kendo association submits an application with the federation and later gains approval.

The Taiwanese kendo association said Su is a long-term resident in Xiamen but it was not yet known if he had switched his citizenship to the People's Republic of China.

It added that the matter has been handed over to the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).

Last week, MAC deputy head Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) cited the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area as saying that Taiwanese nationals may not have household registration in Mainland China or hold passports issued by Beijing.

"We will revoke his Taiwanese (Republic of China) nationality if he holds Chinese nationality," Liang said.

In an interview video with the kendo practitioner uploaded by Excellence (卓越電子報) in November 2023 onto its YouTube channel, Su said he came from Taipei and that "I want to revive the kendo culture of the Chinese nation. I want to represent China's national team at the world championships."

Following the tournament, he also wrote in a Facebook post saying he and his teammates "have prepared for our same dream for six years."