Taiwan-Japan Badge on Live Broadcast Makes Director Nervous, Japanese Senator Criticizes Japanese Media Self-Censorship

TOKYO, July 9 (CNA) - Japanese conservative party Senator Haruo Kitamura, wearing a badge featuring the flags of Taiwan and Japan during a live broadcast, caused the director to exclaim in surprise mid-program, "China will protest this again." Kitamura mentioned this incident on the 6th, directly pointing to the long-standing phenomenon of "self-censorship" in Japanese media and criticizing some outlets for easily succumbing to pressure from China.

Kitamura Haruo, a lawyer by profession, graduated from Waseda University's Faculty of Law and became widely known to the Japanese public through his long participation in legal consultation television programs. He was elected to the House of Councillors in 2025 representing the Japan Innovation Party with a high vote count and currently serves as the party's Diet Affairs Committee Chairman and Legal Advisor, making him one of the most recognizable political figures in the party.

Kitamura has consistently held a pro-Taiwan stance. In June of this year, he co-founded a cross-party study group called the "Parliamentary League for Thinking About Peace and Stability in the Taiwan Strait" with Kaoru Nishida and Mitsuhiro Yokota, members of the House of Representatives from the Japan Innovation Party, along with Ishihira, a member of the House of Councillors from the Japan Innovation Party, and Yoshihiko Yamada, a member of the House of Councillors from the National Democratic Party.

The friendly badge featuring both Taiwanese and Japanese national flags is a symbol often worn by Japanese parliamentarians when visiting Taiwan or attending Taiwan-Japan exchange events, expressing the friendly relationship between the two countries. However, it is not common for Japanese parliamentarians to openly wear the dual-flag badge on a regular basis, and Kitamura is one of the few prominent figures who does.

When Kitamura participated in a news live broadcast on TV Asahi (ABC) recently, in addition to wearing a blue ribbon symbolizing support for the movement to rescue victims of the abductions by North Korea, he also wore a badge with the dual flags of Taiwan and Japan, making the Taiwanese flag a rare sight on Japanese television live broadcasts.

Kitamura attended a regular press conference of the conservative party on the 6th, still wearing the dual Taiwan-Japan flag badge. During the conference, a reporter asked about China's recent official implementation of the "Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress." Kitamura stated that this is a law that uses the guise of the rule of law to actually package the rule of the Communist Party with legal dressing.

He pointed out that it is certainly a problem that Japanese politicians are not speaking out, but he believes the media also bears a very significant responsibility. In particular, Japanese media are almost unwilling to report on China's human rights situation. Because of this, it has been difficult for the Japanese public to learn about these matters, and the media bears a great deal of responsibility.

Kitamura revealed that the director on that day had not noticed the badge with the Taiwan-Japan flags beforehand. It was only noticed during the broadcast, and then the director said, "China will protest about this again." Since the live broadcast had already begun, it was impossible to ask him to remove the badge mid-program, so they could only let the program continue.

He stated that this is just a small example. Anything that the Chinese Communist Party dislikes will be met with pressure from various angles. Especially for private television stations in Japan, even sponsors can come under pressure. In short, anything unfavorable to China, they wish to have it all not broadcast, not exposed. "However, it is truly outrageous that Japanese media so easily succumb to such pressure."

He also pointed out that not only the media but also Japanese politicians are subject to constraints from various sides, leading to parliamentary resolutions concerning issues such as China's human rights often being modified to be vague. He lamented, "If the Japanese of the past saw this, they would surely say, 'Since when did the Japanese become so spineless?'" (Editor: Wei Shu) 1150709

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