Taiwan’s top economic representative in Japan said he boycotted this year’s memorial marking the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki, accusing city officials of being pro-China and insulting Taipei.
Key Factors
Sunday’s (August 9) memorial at the Peace Park in the southwestern city was attended by representatives from 98 countries and three international organisations, including the United Nations, the European Union and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Nagasaki officials said. Nagasaki was boycotted in the 2024 anniversary by then-U.S. ambassador Rahm Emanuel and counterparts from five other Group of Seven countries for not inviting Israel over the escalating conflict in West Asia and concern about possible risks such as protests and other safety issues. Because their designated seats as representatives of Taiwan were not among those reserved for diplomatic missions, lee said he and two deputies boycotted.
Mr. Mr. Lee instead sent a lower-ranked official from Fukuoka.
Lee Yi-yang, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Tokyo, said in a social media post that seat assignments showed Nagasaki “deliberately denied Taiwan’s status as a nation, completely disregarding Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity. Nagasaki acted as “a pawn of China’s insistence that Taiwan is not a state and has no sovereignty,” Mr. Lee’s office said in a statement. Nagasaki officials said seats for Taiwanese officials were located just behind other envoys and were not clearly distinguished as nondiplomatic guests. Seats planned for the Taiwan officials were as part of foreign attendees from international organisations and envoys who could not fit into a special guests section for ambassadors and top Japanese officials, the Asahi newspaper said.
