Premier Liu Chao-shiuan ordered the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) to come up with a plan by the end of March to revive the country's baseball program, and asked for a big increase in prize money for major sports tournaments. SAC chairwoman Tai Shia-ling delivered two legislative bills in response: the Sports Industry Development Act and the Sports Lottery Issuance Act. Encouraged by cabinet-level policy pronouncements, Taipei and five other cities and counties announced plans to form "B-squad" baseball teams. Will the flame of sports burn once again in Taiwan?

After a disappointing 2008 Olympics, Taiwan again lost to China in the 2009 World Baseball Classic after a thrashing by Korea (9-0). The losses set off a storm of criticism.

Problems started with recruitment. The Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (which oversees the national team and all other amateur baseball in Taiwan) and the Chinese Professional Baseball League (the island's pro league), could not work together, and two CPBL teams refused outright to release any players to the national team. In addition, almost none of the Taiwanese playing professionally in the US and Japan participated. (Most pleaded injury or refusal of their teams to release them, though journalists speculate that they just didn't want to be associated with a weak team.) The national team at the WBC was formed in a hasty manner with inexperienced players, virtually ensuring defeat even before they took to the field.

Solutions at hand?

Commentators say recruitment problems are just the tip of the iceberg. What can be done to improve overall development of the sport? People have actually been discussing this subject for a long time. For one thing, lower-level baseball in Taiwan-which won world championships at all levels of little league baseball for many years running-has been on the decline, and requires big government and corporate sponsorship. For another, local professional teams are unable to keep their best players from going to Japan or the US, so it is necessary to increase salaries and improve the overall environment for the game here. It has also been suggested that the professional league establish minor league teams to improve player development.

In response to the cabinet's policy initiative to "save baseball," Taipei City, Taipei County, Taoyuan County, Taichung City, and Kaohsiung City have already set up "B-league" teams. While these may be helpful in stabilizing the middle part of the pyramid of player development and preparing players for the national team, baseball as a whole is still in a very unhealthy state and there are numerous obstacles to be overcome.

One problem in particular is that the best players work hard with the objective of playing professionally in Taiwan, but pro ball here is still hampered by lingering questions about whether the influence of gamblers has been genuinely eradicated. Since the dissolution of the China Times Eagles in 1997 as the result of a game-fixing scandal, pro baseball has been haunted by the shadow of gambling, and there have been repeated cases of gangsters threatening players or players themselves doing the betting.

When scandals break, teams can only fire the offending players, but can do little to root out the power of organized crime. Government agencies have likewise been unable to offer any effective solution. Professional baseball has continued to feel the impact, and the number of teams has fallen from a peak of seven to only four-the number the league started with.

Under these conditions, fans have naturally lost a lot of enthusiasm for paying to watch games. Also, the best young players prefer to go overseas rather than be tainted by association with domestic baseball. With no hope in sight of government help, sponsors can only lurch along forming teams and dissolving them one after the other.

Outpouring of talent

Besides the problems with the would-be "national sport" of baseball, there has also been news that two of Taiwan's leading players in other sports, namely pool and golf, will leave (or at least may leave) the island. This points to problems that independent Taiwanese athletes face in ensuring their financial and professional futures.

Four years ago, at the age of only 16, pool-playing prodigy Wu Chia-ching brought home world titles in both nine-ball and eight-ball, setting new records for youngest world champion ever in the sport and making him the brightest new sensation in Taiwan's pool world.

Last year rumors began to circulate that Singapore, with an eye to Wu's limitless potential, intended to woo him away. He initially put off giving a response, but seeing as this year's major pool events in Taiwan may be cancelled, Wu, who has always depended on the prize money from competitions to make a living, did in fact relocate to Singapore where, at last report, he was practicing with the national team.

Singapore offered Wu a salary of S$50,000 per year (about NT$1.1 million), as well as full subsidies for traveling to overseas competitions, corporate sponsorships, and so on, totaling more than NT$4 million per year. When the SAC got wind of the situation, they promised Wu a monthly salary of NT$60,000 and other conditions, but these talks ultimately broke down.

Because Singapore does not recognize dual nationality, if and when Wu becomes a Singaporean citizen he will have to give up his ROC citizenship, and thus could not represent Taiwan in any future competitions.

Now let's look at the case of Tseng Yani, winner of the 2008 LPGA Championship in the US and currently ranked second in the world. Last year when she returned to Taiwan she called on the business community to try to sponsor an LPGA tour event, and this year also made the same appeal when she met with President Ma Ying-jeou. But because it would cost NT$200 million to host an LPGA tournament, a response was slow in coming, until finally Tseng issued an open letter criticizing the government for devoting too little attention to golf. Her father also has said that several countries have been in contact with her, including mainland China, and if she is left with no good options she may choose to relocate elsewhere.

Right now the economic environment is very bad, unemployment is rising, and the total budget of the SAC for all sports is only NT$130 million in the first place, so it would be tough to manage an international competition costing NT$200 million. On the other hand, several golf courses have announced that they would lend their support, and Tseng has declared that she will not relocate for the time being, so the storm seems to have subsided for now. Beneath the surface, however, the problem continues to fester.

Start from the bottom

Among the recent calls for reform in the sports world, the one with the most obvious immediate benefit would be "lower taxes." In particular, the draft Sports Industry Development Act meets the long-held desire of people in the sports world for the government to give tax breaks to corporations for establishing teams or sponsoring events. But while there is general consensus on this point, some argue that other provisions in the bill-such as allowing a tax deduction for expenses for sports or training paid for by the individual or on behalf of one's own children; exemption from the business tax for sales of sports-industry goods or services; or exemption from land and house taxes for firms in the athletic goods industry-miss the point. In any case, these critics say, the problems cannot be resolved only through private-sector money. If you want to improve performance in competitions, the government will have to play a more active role.

But what should the SAC focus on? What about fields, stadiums, facilities? coaches, training, talent scouting? All require long-term programs.

Some contend that although pro sports and international rankings have their value, the real meaning of "national sports" is to have a solid foundation at the level of the average citizen.

Most Taiwanese stress book learning, arts, and moral education over physical education, and most schools and communities lack sufficient space for sports. Indeed, most schools ban the playing of baseball on school grounds to prevent injuries, so is it really likely that baseball can become the "national sport"? If each child had the chance to really play baseball for fun, everyone would be a potential replacement in the baseball army, and never again would recruiting be a problem.

In this era of globalization, it is quite normal for athletes to move from country to country. It can even be a positive thing for the country they leave behind-after all, if Wang Chien-ming had never gone to the US, could he have become the "pride of Taiwan" as he is known today? The real questions are the following: Can Taiwan make athletic training widely available so as to develop more talented athletes? Can it attract, appreciate, and put to good use the skills of foreign sportsmen and women?

But if failure in a single baseball tournament and the relocation of a couple of star athletes is what it takes to create the determination to embark on sustained training of athletic talent, then it will be all to the good for the future of sports in Taiwan.