User:Chpnn/Sport in Taiwan

Westernization during Qing Dynasty(1858-1895)
The Treaty of Tientsin opened up the Taiwanese border to the western countries, and many missionaries came to Taiwan for missionary, medical, and education work. The missionaries promoted the education of intelligence, morality, and physical, and started to include physical education class in the system. At the time, Han Chinese does not have habits of exercise, so the missionaries encouraged students to swim, play, and run after class. Sports like gymnastics, racing, high jump, and hiking were brought to the Han Chinese.

Japan Colonial Era (1895-1945)
As part of the Japanization and the Kōminka movement, modern physical education and sports became universal systematically in Taiwan. Through physical education, Japan’s goal is to assimilate the Taiwanese, improve their physical ability and health and sanitary, and upright the ideas. In the book “Taiwan’s Tradition”, Tōhō Takayoshi described Han Chinese’s physical appearance in Taiwan at the time as “rich people have a body like pigs, while laborers have a body like mantises.“ To promote sports in Taiwan, the Japanese leader in Taiwan encouraged the establishment of different sports clubs, including martial arts, equestrian, shooting, bicycle, tennis, badminton, soccer, bowling, and gymnastics. As school enrollment rates got higher and sports competition became popular, sports became universal from students to social classes, establishing a favorable foundation for sports in Taiwan.

Kuomintang-led Government (1946-1987)
When the Kuomintang-led government took back Taiwan from Japan in 1949 and started the national-wide martial law, freedom was restricted and life was strictly regulated under the party-state system. The economy was severely damaged by World War II and the Chinese Civil War, and many sports clubs were dissolved due to the sensitive political environment. Although the sports environment had a setback, Japanese colonial era left a crucial foundation in Taiwan that allowed the passion for sports to grow in this difficult time. Moreover, sports in Taiwan at the time were mainly government-driven, and the government devoted itself to developing sports in Taiwan.

In 1968, the government implemented the national-wide 9-year compulsory education and enforced physical education in every public school. In the same year, the government commented government-operated enterprise and some private-sector companies to choose a national sports team to sponsor. Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation, Bank of Taiwan, and other major state-owned companies became sponsors of national sports teams of basketball, baseball, tennis, etc.. Moreover, television became universal in Taiwan during the 1950s and the number of home TV increased drastically. To promote the sports spirit in Taiwan, the government commented major TV stations in Taiwan to live broadcast national team competitions, which successfully raised the attention to Taiwanese sports teams In July 1968, Hong-Ye juvenile baseball team defeated the visiting champion team from Japan with the score of 7-0. Baseball suddenly went viral in the nation and gradually became Taiwan's national sport.

Post Martial Law (1987-Present)
After the martial law, the government noticed that there are a lot of talented athletes went abroad seeking for better training. Therefore, the government invested in sports and announced many short-term and mid-term plans to nurture future athletes. The government also started promoting public heath and exercises habits.

Basketball
Basketball is the most popular ball sport in Taiwan by participation. In 1954, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) was founded as a non-governmental organization that works closely with the government to regulate the basketball industry in Taiwan. In 1993, four individual basketball teams formed the very first professional basketball league in Taiwan called the “Chinese Basketball Association”, but the association only lasted 5 years before it was resolved due to the under fulfillment of 6 teams. In 2003, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) founded a semi-professional basketball league “Super Basketball League” (SBL) that continued the basketball industry in Taiwan. However, the viewership and audience for SBL had contracted throughout the year which resulted in only four teams participating in the year 2022, the lowest number of teams participating in the history of SBL. In 2022, the second professional basketball league “P. LEAGUE+” (Plus League) was founded by a former basketball player Charles Chen. The following year, a third professional basketball league “T1 League” was established by the former manager of the American basketball alliance NBA in the Taiwan area Guang-Zhong Guan. The two newly established professional basketball leagues sparks competition in players and resources but were said to have pushed the basketball industry in Taiwan to a new peak. While teams in both leagues were dedicated to recruiting the best local players, they were both eyeing and investing in recruiting foreign players. In 2022, renowned NBA star Dwight Howard was recruited by the team Taoyuan Leopards within T1 League, marking history in Taiwan’s basketball.

Internationally, The Chinese Taipei men's national basketball team won the silver medal at the Asian Championship in 1960 and 1963 and bronze in 1973 and 1989. The Chinese Taipei women's national basketball team won the silver medal at the 1972 Asian Basketball Championship for Women. The team won bronze at the event in 1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1986, 1988, 1999 and 2005. Further, the women's team won silver at the 2006 Asian Games.