Sports

Yu-Jia Lin, a NTU’s undergraduate, began her formal training after studying at the university. She won second place in 800 meters at first time attending the General Women’s Track and Field competition of National Intercollegiate Athletic Games (NIAG). Through her one-year training, she broke the women’s record of NIAG. As a result, she won first place in 400 meters and 800 meters in 2019.

News ｜First time in Taiwan’s history of sports: A transsexual women in NIAG

In Jan. 2022, the Chinese Taipei School Sport Federation (CTSSF) announced on its official website that from 2023, transgender and intersex athletes are allowed to “transfer” to another group in the competitions of the National Middle School Athletic Games (NMSAG).

On 31 Oct. 2022, the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation (CTUSF) announced the pilot project conceived by the Sports Administration (SA) of the Ministry of Education: Trans athletes can participate in the groups matching their “gender identities”.

In the pilot project, it states that trans athletes’ right of participating in the groups they identify with is based upon the IOC’s 10 key principles (inclusion, prevention of harm, non-discrimination, fairness, no presumption of advantage, evidence-based approach, primacy of health and bodily autonomy, stakeholder centered approach, right to privacy and periodic reviews) and government’s support of trans rights. According to the project, a trans athlete needs to provide “1 diagnosis of gender dysphoria”, a declaration, personal records, testosterone levels test, and other medical examinations. In its Q&A section, it claims that medical studies show that testosterone level determines athletic performance and thus the principle of “no presumption of advantage” is obeyed. It adds that if any national federations change their eligibility regulations for transgender athletes, the SA will follow up.

The SA clearly announced that this project is a response to the Control Yuan’s request for “intersex athletes” to be included in the competitions. It explained that this is a pilot project for NMSAG and NUCAG. It added that depending on conditions, it may apply the same eligibility regulations to other competitions. Nevertheless, “intersex athletes” has never been mentioned in this project. In its Q&A section, its view of intersex (receiving surgery before puberty) completely contradicts the “Directions for medical interventions on intersex minors” of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Further, it might encourage minors to undergo medical gender transition by requiring mtf athletes to finish the whole transition before 12.

National High School Games to allow transgender, intersex athletes to compete