The 12th Japan-Taiwan Exchange Summit was held in Nagoya, Japan, with approximately 300 people in attendance. Despite reports that Chinese officials had urged Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirozawa not to attend, Hirozawa appeared in person and delivered remarks underscoring the longstanding friendship between Japan and Taiwan. He pledged to continue promoting exchanges between the two sides and shared that he had visited Taiwan six times, praising the warmth and friendliness Taiwanese people have consistently shown toward Japanese visitors.
Keiji Furuya, chairman of the Japan-Taiwan Diet Members’ Consultative Council, said the cross-party group now has 325 members of Japan’s National Diet, which has 713 seats in total. Furuya highlighted the group’s efforts to address the longstanding issue of Japanese official documents identifying Taiwanese people’s nationality as “China” rather than “Taiwan.” The group has helped secure changes allowing “Taiwan” to be listed on family registries and, more recently, national professional licenses.
The summit carried particular significance following several incidents involving Taiwan at the recent 2026 Asian Games hosted in Nagoya, including the reported mistreatment of Taiwan’s Sports Minister, Li Yang, during a visit to Japan, as well as incidents in which Taiwanese spectators were reportedly treated improperly while displaying flags and using towels to cheer for their athletes.
At the summit’s opening, Nagoya City Council member Kazuhide Fujita publicly apologized for the Asian Games treatment of Taiwan. Kobe City Council member Hiromasa Uehata criticized the event organizers for yielding to Chinese pressure, saying their actions had undermined the dignity and identity of the Taiwanese people. He called the incidents “a disgrace to Japan.”
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), November 2, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202611020278.aspx