Taiwan CPBL ponders ways to prevent being mistaken for China's baseball league

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/10
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) said Saturday (May 9) that it received advice from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on ways to prevent being mistaken for a Chinese professional baseball league.

After becoming the first in the world to allow spectators into its stadiums, the CPBL has entered the global spotlight for its quick and successful pandemic prevention measures. However, due to having the word "Chinese" in its name, the CPBL has also created confusion for foreign media and spectators as to where the five-team league is based.

According to Liberty Times, several international media outlets have erroneously referred to the CPBL as a baseball league in China, such as the Los Angeles Times and Barstool Sports. As a result, many Taiwanese lawmakers, including those of the New Power Party (NPP), have urged the Taiwanese league to heed public opinion and change its name.

In an official statement released Saturday evening, the CPBL said its commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) had recently met with AIT Director William Christensen (酈英傑) to exchange ideas on how to increase the league's exposure. It said Christensen was very impressed with the number of foreign spectators the league's English-language broadcasts have attracted and hoped that the program would continue.    [FULL  STORY]