ABSTRACT
Before the turn of the century, there was a relative neglect of this policy area as there was no separate or specific policy document that related to young people and sport beyond the specification of the physical education (PE) curriculum within the school system. After winning the 2000 presidential elections, the new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, for the first time, included the issue of youth sport development in a national policy document, Challenge 2008: The Key Project for National Development (2002-2007), issued by the Executive Yuan (the executive branch of government). In one of the subthemes in the document, Cultivating Active Young People, the government attempted to promote health, physical fitness and national competiveness through youth sports (Executive Yuan 2001). Following the publication of the Executive Yuan policy the Ministry of Education issued The White Paper for Cultivating Active Young People in 2004, in which it was stated that ‘the purpose of school PE is to promote the physical fitness and sport skills through planned physical activity’ (MoE 2004: 1). At the present time, there are three key concerns of the Taiwanese government in relation to sports development and young people: elite sport, physical fitness and physical activity/leisure sport. The first concern is strongly linked to the discourse on national pride and sport talent development while the other two are related to health and competiveness in the international arena.
