TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Pakistan has rolled out its “one China” policy to bar its baseball team from participating in the U-18 Asian Baseball Championship, Taiwan’s Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) said Saturday (Aug. 31).
The 13th edition of the championship is scheduled to start Monday (Sept. 2) in Taiwan with teams from eight countries and territories, but the players from Pakistan were stopped from boarding their flight, per CNA. The CTBA said it had informed the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) of the issue.
Pakistan had been scheduled to play the opening match against Thailand in Taoyuan City on Monday morning. Players active in teams in the United States and Japan might still arrive, but it was difficult to tell whether there would be enough of them to field a team, CTBA Secretary-General Richard Lin (林宗成) said.
Pakistan has participated in baseball games in Taiwan before, so it was not clear why there was such a problem this time around, he said. The CTBA has been trying to contact Pakistan team managers but has been unsuccessful so far.
The Sept. 2-8 games are scheduled for stadiums in Taipei City’s Tianmu, Taoyuan City, and New Taipei City’s Xinzhuang. Group A included Pakistan as well as host Taiwan, Thailand, and South Korea, with group B featuring Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
