Chinese city withdraws from Yeosu Island Expo in protest over Taiwan pavilion dispute

China’s withdrawal from the Yeosu World Island Expo has spread a dispute over the naming of a Taiwan exhibition at the Gwangju Biennale to another cultural event in South Korea.

Zhoushan, a city in Zhejiang province, told organizers on September 2 that it would cancel the promotional booth it had installed at the expo site. It also indicated that it would not take part in “Island Friends Day,” an event designed to promote participating countries.

The move appears to be a protest against the Gwangju Biennale’s decision to name an exhibition by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts the “Taiwan Pavilion.” After the decision became known, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing criticized the designation, saying it violated the principle of respecting “one China.” China then halted the display of Chinese artworks at the Ha Jung-woo Museum and withdrew its staff.

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The principle of respecting one China has been violated.

The integrated Jeonnam-Gwangju special city and the Gwangju Biennale Foundation apologized for procedural shortcomings. Yeosu expo organizers said they would make every effort to persuade Zhoushan to attend, pointing to the city’s many islands, its similar geographic conditions with Yeosu and longstanding exchanges between Zhejiang and the former Gwangju area.

An organizer said the expo had hoped to discuss various forms of cooperation with Zhoushan. The organizers also plan to emphasize that Yeosu previously notified Taiwan it could not attend because of concerns about friction with China.

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Because Zhoushan and Yeosu both have many islands, their geographic conditions are similar, and we planned to discuss various forms of exchange through the island expo. We will actively persuade Zhoushan to attend together with the integrated special city.