Apr 5
Liang Daoxing, former mayor of Shenzhen, was expelled from China’s communist party for “disciplinary violations and suspected of crimes”, according to the party disciplinary authorities in Guangdong. Liang’s downfall was linked with graft in 2011 Shenzhen Summer Universiad.
As the Diaoyu /Senkaku Islands dispute continues, runners in Shanghai are feeling the heat. On Sept 11, the Shanghai government decided to postpone the Shanghai International Marathon, a sporting event that Torey, a Japanese chemical firm, has been sponsoring for the past 16 years.
The local government may think by having a Japanese title sponsor, the marathon would not serve China's national interest and wouldn't make themselves look good in their positions jockeying before 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
In 2008, China staged a lavish opening ceremony that stunned the world with its precision and pyrotechnics. Four years later, Chinese impressions of the far quirkier London Games may surprise you.
The trials of former Chinese Football Association heads Xie Yalong and Nan Yong got underway in separate venues in Liaoning Province along with the trials of four former players with the now-defunct Shanghai International football club (and any other name that it had previously) for bribery.
The trials are the latest in a series of cases that have gone on this year in which former CFA officials, referees and one sports company were convicted and handed severe punishments for their crimes.
At least two football tournaments were cancelled in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region following last month's knife attacks and explosions in China's far west.
The two tournaments, which are scheduled to take place in August and October in Urumqi and Artux, were called off by the local party committees due to security concerns.
At the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, short track speed skater Wang Meng became the talk of the sports world after claiming her third gold medal in the women’s 1,000 meter event. Like fellow gold medalists Yang Yang, who was the first Chinese athlete to win a gold medal at the 2002 winter games in Salt Lake City, Wang became the face of China’s winter sports program. This also gave the Heilongjiang native the status as the country's most decorated Winter Olympics athlete. To top off her accomplishments over the last year, Wang was awarded the Female Athlete of the Year award at the 2010 CCTV Sports Personality Awards ceremony.
Jul 7
China’s heir apparent brought up football again this week during his meeting with Sohn Hak-kyu, South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party leader.
From Xinkuaibao via Xinhua:
After the meeting, Sohn Hak-kyu gave a football autographed by Park Ji-Sung to Vice President Xi as a present. As a football fan, Xi expressed that China’s World Cup qualification, hosting of the World Cup and winning the World Cup are his three wishes.
Previously:
Thoughtful China has a very interesting video discussion lately on action sports and sports participation in China that really worth checking out.
In the video, Harvey Davis, vice president at ESPN’s Events Management Group, reckons that "these [action] sports are now recognized in China as real sports, with real committees and real organizations reporting up to the top government organizations in Beijing" and concluded that as "one of the biggest things for the growth of sport in China." With that comes, as in the case of Shanghainese BMX rider Shen Jian and his friends, a clash of interest between government organization and athletes/brands.
According to Southern Metropolis Daily, residents near the main stadium of Shenzhen Universiade were asked to leave their homes during five hours of the opening ceremony on August 12 and were given three options:
a) Participate in government organized activities, e.g. , group watching event of the opening ceremony live broadcast.
b) Do govt-arranged trips
c) If a resident insists on staying at home, city govt will have security personnel keep his/her company during the period.
The territorial dispute in the Kalayaan Islands between the country and China has also affected the sports relationship between the two nations.
Philippine Sports Commission chair Ritchie Garcia yesterday said the volatile situation has stalled the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the government sports agency and the Chinese embassy.
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