US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI3322

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003322 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, SCUL, CASC, TW, Domestic Politics, Consular Reports 
SUBJECT: SAY IT ISN'T SO: BASEBALL GAME-FIXING SCANDAL 
ROCKS TAIWAN 
 
 
1.  Summary.  Taiwan's devoted baseball fans have been 
thrown a curve ball by a high-profile baseball scam 
involving players accused of throwing games for betting 
syndicates.  Thus far, ten people, including a catcher and 
a coach, have been arrested in this, the second 
professional baseball scandal in Taiwan in the past 
decade.  In response to the groundswell of public outrage, 
Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) and 
lawmakers vowed to stamp out illegal gambling on baseball 
and game-fixing by tightening security, cutting down on the 
number of foreign players hired, and establishing a nation- 
wide lottery betting on foreign sports events.  While game 
attendance dropped significantly in the week after the 
scandal was revealed, CPBL and baseball-loving legislators 
hope that the reforms will cause Taiwan's passionate 
baseball fans once again to forgive their baseball heroes 
and return to the stadium. End Summary. 
 
2.  After a yearlong investigation by the Criminal 
Investigation Bureau (CIB), ten people were arrested in 
late July for participation in a game-fixing ring that paid 
pitchers and catchers in cash (up to NT $160000, equivalent 
to US $5000) or kind (sexual services) to throw games.  To 
date, only two people, a team coach and a catcher, remain 
in police custody.  At this point, prosecution against gang 
leaders for organizing illegal gambling seems to be 
unlikely.  According to police estimates, the ring made 
NT$100 million (US $3.1 million) over the past year.  Two 
Americans, La New Bears third baseman Victor Rodriguez and 
Sinon Bulls pitching coach Jeffrey Andra, have been 
questioned and placed on the CPBL's "watch list," but have 
denied involvement in the scam. 
 
Baseball on the Island 
---------------------- 
 
3.  Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), 
founded in 1989, has been the island's only professional 
league since its 2003 merger with the Taiwan Major League. 
The six-team league was hit by a game-fixing scandal in 
1997, when 18 players, a manager, and two bookmakers were 
convicted and jailed, shocking the sport's rabid fans and 
sending the sport's popularity into a dive.  In recent 
years, however, baseball regained its popularity in Taiwan 
after Chen Chin-feng joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 
"Chinese Taipei" team defeated its Japanese counterpart in 
the 2001 World Cup and made the 2004 Olympics, and most 
recently, pitcher Wang Chien-ming joined the New York 
Yankees 
 
4.  As one of the few sports at which Taiwan athletes excel 
in world competition, baseball is Taiwan's national sport 
and a source of pride for this island, which has 
experienced so many diplomatic humiliations and setbacks. 
Because baseball holds such a prominent place in the hearts 
of the people of Taiwan, the game-fixing scandal was 
received with great shock and disillusionment. 
 
Sports Betting and the Future of Baseball 
----------------------------------------- 
 
5.  CPBL rushed to condemn those involved in the scandal 
and vowed to prevent future scandals.  The league announced 
new rules, including banning for life any player or coach 
taken into police custody with police evidence of 
involvement in the scandal.  In a bow to public image, 
those questioned or named by the media will be put on an 
"observation list."  DPP legislator Bi-Khim Hsiao, herself 
a passionate baseball fan from her childhood in the U.S., 
told AIT that a major problem is that foreign players stay 
in Taiwan for short periods of time, do not develop a 
"long-term moral burden or responsibility" to Taiwan 
baseball and, thus, are more susceptible to bribes and 
corruption.  Reflecting this widely held belief, CPBL rules 
next year will reduce from four to two the number of 
foreign players permitted to play on each 
team.  Furthermore, Hong Ruei-Ho, the CPBL acting 
commissioner, said that the league would try to hire mainly 
players from the U.S. and Japan, since players from Latin 
America are "too difficult to manage and have caused many 
headaches with their off-field activities."  Hong explained 
that his beliefs were based on reported cases and police 
evidence.  Richard Wang, CPBL's Director of Public 
Relations, told AIT that CPBL plans to ramp up security at 
stadiums and at hotels where players stay in order to 
prevent gangs and gambling rings from making contact with 
players. 
 
6.  Baseball-loving legislators have also stepped in to try 
their hand at preventing baseball game-fixing and illegal 
gambling in the future.  Hsiao told AIT that sports is one 
of the few areas in which government funding has increased 
in recent years because many legislators believe that, as 
an advanced modern nation, Taiwan needs a well-developed 
sports culture.  Reducing corruption in sports, therefore, 
is a top priority for these interested lawmakers.  Liu 
Teng-cheng, Director-General of the National Treasury 
Agency, announced that the Ministry of Finance will direct 
the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports to 
draft regulations to establish a government-sponsored 
sports lottery, which it hopes will curtail illegal 
gambling.  Once the regulations are approved by the 
Cabinet, the Ministry plans to launch the sports lottery by 
next year, with profits earmarked to support Taiwan's 
athletic events.  LY member Hsiao said this would begin 
with foreign events and possibly expand to include local 
events.  She said that it is important to offer gamblers an 
outlet that would not increase the incentives to fix games. 
 
7.   CPBL's Wang told AIT that before the scandal, baseball 
games in Taiwan typically attracted around 3000 people. 
Since the scandal, however, the number of attendees has 
dropped to an average of 2200 per game.  TV viewer ratings 
for games also have dropped.  In addition to plans for 
reform, CPBL is also planning activities to encourage fans 
to return to games.  Starting next week, it will invite 
"role model" players, who have refused bribes, to make pre- 
game talks to fans.  CPBL will also encourage fans 
attending games to urge the President and lawmakers to 
crack down on illegal gambling.  Wang lamented that Taiwan 
law enforcement agencies do not take illegal gambling 
seriously, a problem demonstrated by the release of eight 
of the ten people arrested in the scandal.  He also said 
CPBL was pushing for the government to increase the 
punishment for illegal gambling, since CPBL itself has no 
way to punish those that participate in gambling rings and 
game-fixing.  CPBL has also named a new commissioner, Tseng 
Chi-lang, who is the vice president of Academia Sinica and 
the former Ministry of Education.  CPBL Hung and DPP 
legislator Hsiao hope that Tseng can lead the way in 
cleaning up the league. 
 
Comment:  Scandal Reflects the Problem of Corruption 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
8. Taiwan's latest baseball scandal is another product of 
the corruption that has become endemic in Taiwan over the 
past decade.  Although recent governments have made anti- 
corruption a priority, there has been little real 
progress.  The fact that the current scandal closely 
mirrors the 1997 scandal demonstrates that progress against 
corruption has been minimal.  A number of legislators have 
been publicly accused of close ties with betting kingpin 
Tsai Wen-pin, a major figure in the current baseball 
 
SIPDIS 
scandal, and other black gang (heibang) leaders.  The 
scandal has damaged Taiwan baseball's image and fans' 
confidence, even as Taiwan looks forward to hosting the 
2009 World Games and prepares its application for the 2020 
Summer Olympic games. 
(Prepared by POL Intern Angela S. Wu)