Is the Chinese Communist Party expanding its campaign of international pressure on Taiwan to now include cultural events (“China expands Taiwan pressure campaign to cultural events,” Taiwan News, July 22, 2026)?
China is broadening efforts to isolate Taiwan internationally, with recent disputes involving a children’s choir and a coffee competition, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Taiwan said Beijing has continued using diplomatic and economic pressure to limit the country’s international participation. This includes blocking officials from attending international meetings and restricting President Lai Ching-te’s overseas travel.
One recent example involved the National Taiwan Hakka Children’s Choir, which withdrew from a global choral symposium in Macau after organizers requested that it perform under a different name. Taiwan’s Hakka Affairs Council said it spent two months negotiating before deciding to pull out to preserve Taiwan’s identity.
Taiwan also protested after organizers of the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego changed the winner’s listed affiliation from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei.”
The form of harassment is not new. Radio Free Asia reported a couple of years ago that the name “Chinese Taipei” that Republic of China players are often forced to use at sports events “was first used in 1981” but that “the naming dispute between Taiwan and China dates back to 1949.”
In 1972, Taiwan participated in the Olympics as the ROC for the last time. Taiwan then boycotted the 1976 Games after host country Canada insisted it compete under the name Taiwan rather than ROC.
In 1979, Taiwan was suspended from the Olympics after the IOC recognized Beijing as the representative for China.
Two years later, Taiwan was allowed back into the Games after agreeing to compete under the name “Chinese Taipei,” which it has used ever since.
In 2010, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs reported that the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo International Film Festival were “marred by a serious incident when the head of the Chinese delegation, Jiang Ping, insisted that Taiwan could only participate if it changed its name to ‘Taiwan, China’ or ‘Chinese Taipei.’ The Taiwanese delegation refused to change its name, stating that it had always participated in the festival under the name ‘Taiwan.’ The last-minute objections from the Chinese side prevented actors, actresses and movie producers from Taiwan [from participating] in the opening ceremonies and walk the famous ‘green carpet’ of the festival.”
The Association’s account is inaccurate. The last-minute objections from the PRC side did not prevent the Taiwanese from participating in the film festival. The festival organizers prevented them.
Such CCP-instigated incidents are apparently happening more often and involving smaller events. But the Party’s insistence that the Republic of China be excluded from cultural and other forums or that organizers force Taiwanese participants to change the banner under which they may participate is decades old.
The people who run sports, artistic, and other social and cultural functions should stop accommodating the irrational demands; and, when PRC participants are rude about Taiwanese participants, should eject the former, not the latter.
Also see:
The Wall Street Journal: “China’s Campaign to Suffocate Taiwan Is Hitting Children’s Choirs and Baristas”
“Beijing is sparing no effort as it applies its formidable diplomatic pressure to squeezing Taiwan on the global stage….
“ ‘No forum is too small, technical or peripheral for careerist Chinese diplomats seeking recognition for defending Beijing’s position,’ said Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security think tank.”
