China withdraws from Lishui World Island Expo due to Taiwan pavilion name incident

China angrily withdrew from the Yeosu World Island Expo due to the naming incident of the "Taiwan Pavilion" at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea. (Picture taken from the official website of Lishui World Island Expo)

There was a controversy over the name of the "Taiwan Pavilion" at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea. After the title of "Taiwan Pavilion" was restored, China was so angry that it withdrew the exhibition. It also directed its anger to the "Yeosu World Island Expo" held from September 5 to November 4. China has announced its withdrawal from the exhibition, but Taiwan did not participate in the expo.

According to the Korean media "Central Daily News", the "Yeosu World Island Expo" will be held in Yeosu City, Gwangju Unified Special City, South Jeolla Province for 61 days. Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, China is one of the exhibitors. However, Zhoushan informed the organizer on the 2nd of this month that it will cancel its venue operations at the Island Expo and will not attend the "Island Friends Day" event to promote the participating countries.

The Yeosu World Island Expo is expected to attract 90,000 foreign tourists, the majority of whom are expected to be Chinese. Therefore, China’s withdrawal has caused concerns about the success of the expo. In response, Yeosu City and the organizer are trying to persuade China to resume its participation in the exhibition through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea.

However, political analysts believe that it is unlikely that China will change its position, because Zhoushan City's non-participation in the Yeosu Island Expo is a protest against the Taiwan Pavilion at the recent Gwangju Biennale. In addition, the delegation of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China, canceled its planned visit to Gwangju from the 6th to the 7th, which is also one of the boycott actions.