PASAY CITY (Philippines) - They are traditional Asian heavyweights for a reason. It's an identity China are and have always been conscious of.
In this window, the Asia Cup 2025 silver medalists proved exactly why they should never be counted out. First against Japan, and now against Chinese Taipei - two formidable foes who held double-digit leads in their games.
Never Say Die
Thirteen years after Chinese Taipei's last triumph over China in a major FIBA competition, the former had another golden opportunity to post only their second victory against the long-time powerhouse.
But China had other ideas, turning an 11-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, into a 100-93 final scorecard.
This came just days after a similar escape act against Japan and in front of a partisan crowd that trooped to the Okinawa Arena, where they had trailed by as many as 15 points before coming away with the 87-80 result.
"We have a great tradition of the national team from the old generation,"
Still with the upper-hand
Of the 17 meetings between China and Chinese Taipei dating back to 1987, Team China have won a whopping 16 of those head-to-head bouts.
Year | Competition | Winning team | Final score |
|---|---|---|---|
2026 | FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers | China | 100-93 |
2023 | FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers | China | 97-56 |
2023 | FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers | China | 94-58 |
2022 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 95-80 |
2021 | FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers | China | 115-66 |
2021 | FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers | China | 91-73 |
2013 | FIBA Asia Cup | Chinese Taipei | 96-78 |
2009 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 101-83 |
2005 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 76-58 |
2003 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 121-61 |
2001 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 100-71 |
1999 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 105-51 |
1995 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 52-42 |
1993 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 87-67 |
1991 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 90-70 |
1989 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 92-67 |
1987 | FIBA Asia Cup | China | 85-73 |
Adding more satisfaction to this win for China over Chinese Taipei is that it was claimed at the same exact venue where they played in 2013, the Mall of Asia Arena, when the Philippines hosted the FIBA Asia Cup that year.
Their 2-0 record in this window means China have taken their overall World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers win-loss tally to 2-2.
They are currently third in Group B, and remain within the progression cutoff for a spot in the Second Round.
FIBA