Equestrian Event in Taoyuan Misnames Japanese Team as 'Japanese'; City Withdraws Subsidy

(Central News Agency, Taoyuan, 3rd, reporter Ye Zhen) The '2026 International Equestrian Festival and Dressage International Exchange Competition' was held in Longtan District, Taoyuan City. The Taiwanese representative team used the name 'Chinese Taipei', which drew criticism for allegedly belittling the nation. Furthermore, the Japanese team's sign read 'Japanese', which was deemed inappropriate.

The Taiwan International Equestrian Exchange Association issued a statement explaining that because the event has attracted attention from the FEI (International Equestrian Federation) and may be included in the FEI series, they followed the 'Chinese Taipei Olympic Model' and FEI competition conventions. They stated they would adjust based on the situation in the future to accommodate everyone's feelings.

The association also admitted that the Japanese team's name should have been 'Japan', and writing 'Japanese' was a mistake, for which the organizers deeply apologized.

The Taoyuan City Government told the media that since it is an international event, the competition format is decided by the organizer. They noted that for the association to seek international recognition, the 'Chinese Taipei' model was necessary.

The city government stated that because the event was held in Taoyuan, the city's Sports Bureau provided a subsidy and was listed as a guiding unit. Due to the mislabeling of the participating country's name, they will withdraw this year's subsidy, cease to be a guiding unit for the event, and will not provide subsidies next year. They emphasized that this decision is unrelated to the event's adherence to the Olympic model. (Editor: Lin Shuhui) 1150603