時論廣場》紐約棒球場上自嗨的臺灣日（方恩格）

今年3月初，樂天女孩被宣佈將成爲大都會臺灣職棒啦啦隊並在臺灣日的表演團體。圖爲「樂天女孩」曾爲天使隊「臺灣日」與大谷翔平合影資料照片。（樂天桃猿提供）

紐約大都會棒球隊將於8月27日舉辦第18屆的「臺灣日」活動。而在4天后的9月1日，大都會則將舉辦年度的「中華文化之夜」。

正如筆者一年前在《中國時報》所寫的，只要此球隊繼續舉辦中華文化之夜，臺灣就不應該合辦臺灣日活動。去年，大都會的中華文化之夜於8月6日舉行，而臺灣日則是在8月28日。這兩個活動均發生於時任美國衆議院議長裴洛西訪問臺灣，以及隨之而來的大規模解放軍軍事演習之後。

今年，紐約大都會的臺灣日活動將在年度的中華文化之夜之前舉行。中華文化之夜是一個類似的活動，但其由紐約市地區的親中組織共同協辦。這兩個活動都將在副總統賴清德前往巴拉圭新總統就職典禮途中過境美國的幾天後舉行。如果解放軍再次像今年4月分蔡英文總統過境美國時那樣進行大規模軍事演習，那麼大都會臺灣日與親中的中華文化之夜如此密切地相隨，將會顯得很奇怪。

確實，臺灣是時候對那些優先考慮與中國大陸建立密切關係的組織說「不」了，不管是世界衛生組織，還是紐約大都會棒球隊。

大都會臺灣日的另一個獨特之處在於選擇由誰來投開球。去年是棒球選手彭政閔，而今年則是棒球評論員曾文誠。雖然兩人在臺灣都有知名度，但在臺灣以外的地方並不太知名，因此錯失了讓更著名的人物代表臺灣的機會。

不過，如果臺灣政府和親臺組織堅持舉辦另一屆大都會臺灣日，那麼以下是今年應該避免的事情：

在去年的錄製致詞影片中，蔡總統的表現顯得像是在談論她不熟悉的運動，這對她來說是非常不利的處境。如果蔡總統再次計劃發表致詞影片，她的幕僚必須要做更完善的準備。

在過去的幾年裡，大都會臺灣日一直與總部位於美國的慈善機構Give2Asia合作。該機構致力於將美國的捐贈者與亞洲的慈善機構做中介聯繫。Give2Asia 會將大都會臺灣日特別套票的部分收益捐贈給臺灣的慈善機構。然而，在Give2Asia的網站上，與其合作的慈善機構竟被標示爲「中國-臺灣」，這樣的描述矮化了臺灣的地位。人們只能假設，Give2Asia之所以這樣描述臺灣是因爲他們也與中國的慈善機構合作；若是將臺灣僅列爲「臺灣」，可能會冒犯到這些機構。

去年，我們向外交部詢問此事，而外交部的回覆是：「駐處將積極洽請該組織更正」。然而，我們最近查看了Give2Asia的網站，它仍然將臺灣的慈善機構標示爲「中國-臺灣」。外交部可能忘記了這件事，或者是因爲未能說服Give2Asia更改描述。

紐約大都會這個賽季表現不佳，這意味着到了8月27日時現場可能會有很多空座位。臺灣日合辦機構因此有責任確保會有大批觀衆到場。這是一個政治性的活動，而不僅僅是與棒球有關而已。政治活動的一個遊戲規則就是主辦方應確保場地會被坐滿。雖然中國的人口確實比臺灣多得多，但如果中華文化之夜的觀衆人數超過了臺灣日，這對臺灣來說將會非常尷尬。

紐約大都會今年將再次贈送球衣。與去年相似的是，背面不會有球員名字，而是會印上「臺灣」這個英文字。去年的贈送球衣，是 Made in China。今年也會是這樣嗎？

最後，樂天女孩啦啦隊是否會被過度關注？在今年3月初，樂天女孩被宣佈將成爲大都會臺灣職棒啦啦隊並在臺灣日的表演團體。這個決定是在臺灣的#MeToo風潮爆發之前做出的。在世界棒球經典賽期間，臺灣的棒球啦啦隊獲得了全球媒體的大量關注，而這大部分是因爲啦啦隊的性感形象。如果大都會臺灣日的目標是提高臺灣在紐約市或是棒球球迷中的知名度，樂天女孩可能不是最佳選擇。出生於臺灣大提琴家郭虔哲將演奏美國國歌；球迷在比賽中是會記得他，或是記得這是臺灣日，還是隻會記得樂天女孩呢？

（作者爲美國共和黨前亞太區主席，翻譯：許淳恩）

Mets Taiwan Day, a Home Run or a Foul Ball?

By Ross Darrell Feingold

Former Asia Chairman, Republicans Abroad

@RossFeingold

On August 27 for the eighteenth time the New York Mets baseball team will host a “Taiwan Day”. Four days later, on September 1, the Mets will host its annual “An Evening of Chinese Culture”.

As this author wrote in The China Times a year ago, Taiwan should not participate in a Mets Taiwan Day so long as the Mets continue to host a Chinese culture night. Last year, the Mets “An Evening of Chinese Culture” was on August 6, and Taiwan Day was on August 28. Both events occurred following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and the large scale Chinese military exercises that followed.

This year, the Mets Taiwan Day will precede the annual Mets “An Evening of Chinese Culture” which is a similar event but co-organized by pro-China organizations in the New York City area. Both events will be days after follow Vice President William Lai’s transit of the United States on his way to and from the inauguration of Paraguay’s new president. If China conducts large scale military exercises again as it did when President Tsai Ing-wen transited the United States earlier this year, it will be strange that Mets Taiwan Day is so closely followed by the pro-China “An Evening of Chinese Culture” event.

Indeed, it’s time for Taiwan to say “no” to organizations that prioritize close relations with China, whether the World Health Organization or the New York Mets.

Another peculiar aspect of Mets Taiwan Day is who is selected to throw out the first pitch. Last year it was baseball player Peng Cheng-min and this year it is baseball commentator Tseng Wen-cheng. While both are popular in Taiwan, neither is well known outside Taiwan, and this is a missed opportunity to have a more prominent person represent Taiwan.

Regardless, if the Taiwan government and pro-Taiwan organizations insist on having another Mets Taiwan Day, here are things to avoid this year:

In last year’s recorded address, President Tsai Ing-wen came across as if she was talking about a sport with which she is not familiar, which is a terribly unfair position to put her into. If President Tsai again plans to deliver a video address, her aides must do a better job preparing her.

In past years, Mets Taiwan Day has worked with a charity partner, Give2Asia, a U.S.-based charity that connects donors in the United States with charities in Asia. Give2Asia will pass some of the special Mets Taiwan Day ticket proceeds to a charity in Taiwan. However, on the Give2Asia website, for the Taiwan charities t works with, the location as “China – Taiwan”, a description that belittles Taiwan. One can only assume Give2Asia describes Taiwan this way because Give2Asia also works with charities in China who might be offended if Taiwan is simply listed as “Taiwan”. Last year we inquired with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this, and the reply we received from MOFA was “the Taiwan representative in New York City will urgently request Give2Asia to correct this”. However, we recently checked Give2Asia’s website, and it still identifies Taiwan-based charities as “China – Taiwan”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs either forgot about this or failed to persuade Give2Asia to change the description.

The Mets are having a terrible season, which means that by August 27, it is likely there will be many empty seats. It’s up to Taiwanese-American organizations that are co-hosting Mets Taiwan Day to ensure there is a large crowd. This is a political (not only a baseball) event, and a basic rule of political events is that the organizers should make sure the venue is full. Notwithstanding that China’s population is many more times larger than Taiwan’s, it would be an embarrassment for Taiwan if there is a larger crowd for “An Evening of Chinese Culture”.

Once again there will be a Mets t-shirt give away, which instead of a player name on the back will have the word “Taiwan”. A similar t-shirt was given away last year but it was Made in China. Will this year’s give away T-shirt also be Made in China?

Finally, will there be too much focus on the Rakuten Girls Cheerleaders? It was announced in early March that the Rakuten Girls cheerleading squad would be part of the Taiwan entertainment for Mets Taiwan Day. The announcement was made before Taiwan’s #MeToo revelations began. Certainly, during the World Baseball Classic, Taiwan’s baseball cheerleaders received a lot of global media attention, which was due in large part to the cheer leaders sex appeal. If the goal of Mets Taiwan Day is to raise Taiwan’s profile in New York City or with baseball fans, the Rakuten Girls are probably not the best option. Cellist Kenneth Kuo, who was born in Taiwan, will play the United States national anthem; will fans at the game remember him, remember that it was Taiwan Day, or only remember the Rakuten Girls?