Taiwan flag banned alongside rising sun flag at Asian Games, sparking backlash

Backlash is growing in Taiwan, led by opposition parties, over the ban on Taiwan's national flag — the Blue Sky, White Sun and a Wholly Red Earth flag — at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games being held in Japan.

According to local media including the China Times and Liberty Times, Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, said Friday that Taiwanese fans attending a baseball game between Taiwan and China were stopped by event staff for waving Chinese Professional Baseball League cheering towels printed with the word "TAIWAN." The Kuomintang called for the incident to be condemned.

According to local media, staff at the venue told the fans to stop using the towels bearing the "TAIWAN" text. The fans responded by pointing to China's national flag — the five-star red flag — and demanding equal treatment. Event staff, however, repeatedly told them that under tournament rules the display was considered a "political statement," and that they could be ejected if they continued to cause a disturbance.

Kuomintang Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Hsu Yu-chen said it was "a natural sentiment" for Taiwanese baseball fans to cheer with their national flag, and called on President Lai Ching-te's government to establish the facts surrounding the ban. If the reports proved accurate, she added, a simple expression of regret or protest would not be sufficient.

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, considered a potential presidential contender from the opposition camp, also condemned the incident, saying that fans cheering for athletes competing for Taiwan's glory "represents the purest national sentiment." He said he opposed any act that suppresses Taiwan's international standing or limits its international participation.

At the baseball game between Taiwan and Japan on Saturday, a notice posted at the stadium entrance in Japanese, English and Chinese banned both the rising sun flag and Taiwan's national flag. The notice drew further criticism within Taiwan.

Seven-term lawmaker Lin Te-fu of the Kuomintang criticized the listing of the rising sun flag — tied to Japan's militarist history — alongside the flag of the Republic of China as a deliberate "insult" intended to block Taiwanese fans from bringing in their national flag. He said President Lai has repeatedly emphasized that the Republic of China is a sovereign nation with excellent ties to Japan, yet the government had remained silent while the country was subjected to such treatment at the Asian Games, diminishing its national dignity. Lin also called on President Lai and Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to state their positions.