Secretariat, Taipei City Government

The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in May 2021 had disrupted the lives of Taipei citizens, compromising their lifestyles as well as sectors such as education, the economy, art exhibitions and performances, and the sports industry. Fortunately, Taiwan was able to contain the epidemic starting in July. In response to the raging global pandemic and strict border control, Taipei City actively engages in new post-epidemic endeavors such as utilizing its creativity to promote urban diplomacy.
 
Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis (FSCN) is one of the countries that has maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan and one that claims cricket as its national pastime. To celebrate its Independence Day on Sept. 19, Tom Chou (Commissioner of the Department of Civil Servant Development and Commissioner of Mayor’s Office for External Affairs) sent his regards to Jasmine Elise Huggins (H.E. Ambassador of the Embassy of Saint Christopher and Nevis and leader of the diplomatic envoy) and invited her to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the CPBL Wei Chuan Dragons game taking place at the Tianmu Baseball Stadium on Sept. 24. The warm responses from the crowd and the baseball game demonstrated the strong friendship and different sports cultures between the two countries, respectively.
 
At the invitation of Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai, Ping-kun and Commissioner Chou, the baseball game attracted many foreign ambassadors in Taiwan (e.g., those from Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Republic of Palau, and Honduras) and representatives from foreign offices in Taiwan/Taipei (e.g., from countries such as Europe, Poland, Belgium, Singapore, the United States, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Republic of Nicaragua, and New Zealand) to celebrate the grand event. The number of ambassadors and representatives totaled 20.
 
Other guests invited to this diplomatic sports event included Lee Chih-chiang (Director General of the Department of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Wang Hsueh-hong (Director General of the Department of NGO International Affairs).
 
To better familiarize baseball fans onsite with FSCN, the Taipei City Government showed a video with a speech from the FSCN prime minister before the game. Next, Ambassador Huggins threw the first ceremonial pitch with Deputy Mayor Tsai at bat, winning a warm round of applause from the audience onsite.
 
During intermission at the end of the seventh inning, Deputy Mayor Tsai and a number of ambassadors joined the cheerleading team to cheer for the WeiChuan Dragons (the home team), creating a lively, interesting, and unique urban diplomatic exchange.