2019 East Asian Youth Games is the first international multi-sport competition to be organized by Taichung, and it is also the first international competition under the Olympic system in Taiwan. In July this year, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia successfully became the host city of the next East Asian Youth Games. When visiting Mongolian National Olympic Committee President Demchigjav Zagdsuren on the 20th, Taichung City Mayor Lin Chia-lung commented that Taichung has presented Young & Green as the theme of East Asian Youth Games, and the city has also proposed canoeing and cycling as the two nature-oriented sports. In the future, it is hoped that Taiwan and Mongolia will be able to promote these sports together and pave way for the future developments of East Asian Youth Games as well as foster sports exchanges between the 2 countries via interactions and experience sharing.

Accompanied by Sports Bureau Director-General Wang Ching-tang, Representative of Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office in Ulaanbaatar Huang Kuo-jung and Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee International Division Specialist Liu Cheng-hao, Mayor Lin visited Mongolian National Olympic Committee on the 20th and met with President Demchigjav Zagdsuren, where they exchanged thoughts about the organizing details of East Asian Youth Games. Furthermore, a dialogue platform was established to facilitate bilateral cooperation between Mongolia and Taiwan.

According to Mayor Lin, since Taichung City is about to host the first East Asian Youth Games, all the venues and athlete training are currently underway. The first East Asian Youth Games is positioned as a green sports event, where the youths are expected to propagate the philosophy of environmental protection and low carbon emissions by participating in sports.

Mayor Lin suggested that since Taichung City and Mongolia will host the first and second East Asian Youth Games respectively, both parties can engage in in-depth exchanges on the topic of sports, including athlete training and the construction of sports venue facilities. With Mongolia proactively participating in East Asian Youth Games hosted by Taichung, Taichung City will also foster bilateral exchanges in sports, especially in events that both cities are good at in order to share experiences and forge a wonderful intercity friendship.

Mongolian National Olympic Committee President Demchigjav Zagdsuren expressed his joy at Taichung City as the host city of the first East Asian Youth Games. Currently, Mongolia is also preparing for the second East Asian Youth Games, thus he hopes that the sports interaction between Mongolia and Taiwan will become more frequent, and both countries will continue to improve the sports event that they are good at.

Representative of Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office in Ulaanbaatar Huang Kuo-jung indicated that there is close sports interaction between Taiwan and Mongolia; with Mongolian National Olympic Committee President Demchigjav Zagdsuren proactively vying to host international competitions in Mongolia, at least 10 groups from Taiwan will partake in competitions in Mongolia over the recent years. In the future, it is hoped that the Taichung City and Mongolia will be able to form closer interactions.

According to the Sports Bureau, as the first host city of East Asian Youth Games, Taichung City has adopted the theme of “Young & Green” to design the grand sports gathering for youths in East Asia between ages 14 and 18. At the same time, the event serves to embody the spirit of a low-carbon resilient city, therefore canoeing and cycling – events that are coherent with Taichung’s characteristics and green energy concept – are incorporated into the non-core events. It is hoped that Mongolia will also increase the number of canoeing teams and promote the cycling event in order to propagate the philosophy of green energy.

The first East Asian Youth Games will take place in Taichung from August 24 to 31, 2019, featuring 14 events including: athletics, aquatics (swimming and diving), 3 on 3 basketball, badminton, 5-a-side futsal, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis (including soft tennis), beach volleyball, judo, wushu and bowling, as well as 2 non-core events chosen by Taichung City: cycling and canoeing. The event is set to attract 2,400 team staff and athletes from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Mongolia and Guam.

Sports Bureau explained that in July this year, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia successfully became the host city of the second East Asian Youth Games; through this visit, it is hoped to exchange both parties’ opinions on venue, transportation and environmental strategy etc. Moreover, competition organizing experiences are also obtained from Mongolian National Olympic Committee, and in the future it is hoped that there will be more sports related interactions to forge a close tie between Taichung and Mongolia.