Report: Feng, Lui told to skip Taiwan event (Politics Affects Women's Pro Golf)

[mountaineer]

Report: Feng, Lui told to skip Taiwan event
 By  Randall Mell
October 23, 2018

China’s Shanshan Feng and Yu Liu withdrew from this week’s Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship after being told by someone “high up” in China to skip the event, according to Reuters.

The withdrawals come amid growing political tension with China ramping up pressure to assert its sovereignty over Taiwan. ...
Golf Channel

More from Reuters:

... China, which views self-ruled Taiwan as a wayward province, has ramped up pressure to assert its sovereignty. Ties have deteriorated since 2016, when President Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party came to power.

The United States sent two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Monday in its second such operation this year, as its military steps up the frequency of transits through the busy strategic waterway, despite opposition from China.

Sometimes the ill-feeling between China and Taiwan engulfs sporting events. ...

“They said I can’t respond regarding the issue of withdrawing from the competition,” Liu told Reuters via her official account on the Twitter-like social media platform Weibo, referring to her agents.

Asked about why she had pulled out of the tournament, she declined to comment but said it was “not for personal reasons”.   ...