Japanese TV Travel Chart Lacks Taiwan's Flag, Netizens Question: Afraid of Chinese Protest?

(Central News Agency, Tokyo, July 9) -- A news program broadcast on Japan's TV Asahi on July 4 has recently sparked controversy. When introducing popular overseas travel destinations for Japanese people during summer vacation, the chart included national flags for South Korea, the United States, Thailand, and Singapore. However, only Taiwan, ranked fourth, did not display its national flag. The broadcast footage has caused heated discussion among Japanese netizens, who question whether the TV station deliberately omitted Taiwan's flag due to concerns about China.

The special program, "Ikegami Akira's News That's How It Is!!," released the "2025 August Ranking of Actual Countries/Regions Visited by Japanese People." The top five were South Korea, the United States, Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore, in that order. Among them, national flags were displayed next to all countries except Taiwan, which only showed the name. This led viewers to post on social media, asking, "Why is there no flag for Taiwan?" and "Is there some reason it can't be shown?"

According to a report by Weekly Smart FLASH, commentators pointed out that because China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, issues concerning the recognition of Taiwan as a country have always been sensitive in the international community. For example, Taiwan participates in Olympic events under the name "Chinese Taipei," so all media outlets are very cautious in their wording and visual presentations. The omission of Taiwan's national flag in this program may also be based on such considerations.

Furthermore, based on the 1972 "Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China," the Japanese government does not officially recognize Taiwan as a country, and official documents often refer to Taiwan as a "region."

However, some entertainment reporters stated that Taiwan's national flag, the "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth," is highly recognizable in Japan. Although this flag is not used in international events like the Olympics, it can still be seen in competitions such as the World Baseball Classic (WBC). Therefore, Japanese viewers inevitably find it unusual that Taiwan's flag was the only one not displayed in the program.

The program's host, Ikegami Akira, previously caused controversy for his remarks regarding the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. In a 2011 program, he said, "It was later confirmed that no one was killed inside Tiananmen Square," but he also added at the time, "There were many casualties on the Chang'an Avenue area." However, due to his remarks being taken out of context, some mistakenly believed he claimed "there were no deaths in the Tiananmen incident." This led to considerable criticism, with some even accusing him of "speaking for China."

This entertainment reporter believes that although Ikegami Akira's past remarks were later deemed to be misunderstood, Japanese media have long been criticized for their conservative stance on China-related issues. Therefore, the absence of Taiwan's flag in the program this time has drawn particular attention from the public. (Editor: Wei Shu) 1150709

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