Taiwan’s representative to the United States Alexander Yui. Photo courtesy of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. June 16, 2024

Washington, June 15 (CNA) Taiwan’s representative to the United States Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. in honor of a pilot Taiwan Day event Saturday before Washington Nationals baseball game.

The event drew 500-600 Taiwanese, and a limited edition of 500 jerseys showing the name “Taiwan DC” and the number “08,” which sounds like “your father” in Taiwanese, were sold out.

Lee Hou (侯立宸), who initiated the event, told CNA that it was a “proof of concept” game, meaning that if the team saw the event as viable based on ticket sales, Taiwan Day would be adopted as a standard event in coming seasons.

Hou said the target for making Taiwan Day an official event starting next year was to sell 250 tickets to the event through the Taiwan Day landing page, and more than 500 tickets were sold, which means it has a good chance to stick.

Hou, 23, a Taiwanese-American baseball enthusiast who used to work for the Washington Nationals, said that after seeing the success of Taiwan Day events in Los Angeles, Seattle and other places, he “made a wish” to add a Taiwan flavor to Washington, where he grew up.

Last year, Hou, in his capacity as a member of Millennial Global Youth (MGY), began to contact the Nationals team to plan the trial run of the Taiwan Day event.

MGY is a group mainly composed of second-generation Taiwanese Americans dedicated to spreading the culture of Taiwan in hopes of promoting multicultural diversity and building relationships within the community, according to Hou.