It’s often said that sports builds not only the body, but character as well. Part of the reason why children are encouraged to play sports is to teach them something about the value of individual effort, teamwork, determination and sportsmanship. Somewhere along the way, they probably learn that criticism is part of the game, and sometimes criticism is unfair. Just ask any 10 year old who misses an easy fly ball because the sun got in his eyes.
Remarkable that 10 year olds figure this out, while Taiwanese politicians do not:
Taipei judges made a decision on Wednesday that two Web sites did not need to pay compensation to former Taipei deputy mayor King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) over criticism of him posted on the companies’ blog sites.
The argument arose after King discovered that Internet users "freemanh" on yam.com.tw and "YST2000" on udn.com had posted entries on their blogs criticizing King for "humiliating Taiwan" during the International Children’sGames in Thailand last year.
King led a team of athletes participating in the games in Thailand in August last year. As Taiwanese medalists walked to the podium to collect their medals, Chinese delegates rushed up to them and snatched away the Taiwanese flags they were carrying.
[…]
Back in Taiwan, Internet users used their blogs to complain about King’s behavior and his reaction to the incident. Several said that King had "humiliated Taiwan’s national flag" as he failed to prevent Chinese representatives from grabbing the flags.
King then filed a civil lawsuit against the two Web sites.
He requested NT$1 in damages from both companies and asked for a full-page apology to be placed in all local major Chinese-language newspapers.
King Pu-tseng struck out at the plate – he was head guy at the scene when the Chinese snatched the flags. For that reason, some folks in the bleachers call him a bum. Others, (like myself) defend him, saying this was a speedball no one could’ve hit.
But here’s the thing: If King were a baseball player, he’d have to take the good with the bad, and let all that negative criticism roll right off his back. Instead, he’s a Taiwanese politician – a Mandarin who isn’t accustomed to taking lip from uppity coolies. So he sues blogging companies for libel, threatening freedom of speech itself for nothing more than his own personal vanity.
And vanity, it is. Because an entire YEAR has passed since the International Children’s Games. A whole TEAM of Taiwanese kids had flags snatched out of their hands by Chinese goons, and all King can think about is how HE was hurt. Hurt by a few stupid comments from a bunch of know-nothings. Yes, I know Taiwan has a whole Confucian-face thing going on, but if the place is to remain a democracy, its politicians really need to to get over themselves. In a democracy, people are ENTITLED to their opinions even when they’re wrong. King should console himself with the knowledge that virtually nobody remembers, or cares, what a few bloggers wrote about him a year ago.
I know. Trust me on this one.
Perhaps Haywood Hale Broun spoke true when he said, "Sports do not build character. They reveal it." It was with his eagerness to stifle public criticism, not the flag-snatching episode, that King Pu-Tseng revealed his character. And THAT was how he humiliated Taiwan – and himself.
UPDATE (Sep 27/07): Upon reflection, I regret having characterized fellow bloggers as "know nothings". Holy smokes, who am I to talk? I’m not a native. I’m not an expert on Taiwan. Heck, I don’t even speak the language. Talk about throwing stones in a glass house!
That said, I’m not a big fan of blaming the victim. When China lures away one of Taiwan’s allies, I don’t blame President Chen or his party. I wouldn’t blame a KMT president or his party if it happened on his watch, either. China does what it does, simply BECAUSE it can.
Now, most decent people would never DREAM of snatching a flag out of a kid’s hands. And only someone with a very, VERY low opinion of the Chinese would have believed that they’re the kind of people that would. Obviously, that’s a failure of the imagination, because they did.
But even if those present HAD suspected the Chinese would be on their worst behavior, they still faced the problem of having to be on their guard EVERY MOMENT of time against EVERY TRANSGRESSION that might have been committed. And that’s a tough – maybe even an impossible – thing to do.