A banner at Taiwan's Asian Games training base was maliciously graffitied, and the representative office in Japan is concerned

The relay station of the Taiwan delegation was replaced with a new canvas.

[Special Correspondent in Japan Lin Cuiyi/Tokyo 17th report] The Nagoya Asian Games is about to open on the 19th. It was reported that the Taiwanese delegation’s training base in Nagoya City was maliciously graffitied. The words "country" and "Taiwan" on the banner at the entrance of the "National Sports Training Center" were daubed in black paint. Japanese police launched an investigation. Li Yiyang, the representative in Japan, expressed concern about this, hoping that the Japanese police would increase safety and security, and also reminded the Taiwanese players to strengthen safety precautions. After the news was exposed, many messages of support for Taiwan appeared on the Japanese Internet. Some netizens bluntly said that "Taiwan is an upright country" and cheered for Taiwanese players.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Kyodo News and others reported that the Taiwanese delegation used the former Mison Elementary School in Naka-ku, Nagoya City as a base for training and other activities during the Asian Games. After noon on the 14th, relevant personnel discovered that the banner placed near the entrance had been graffitied and reported it.

The damaged cloth was about 1.5 meters high and 5 meters wide. It originally had words such as "Taiwan Sports Training Center" written on it, but some of the words including "country" and "Taiwan" were painted with what appeared to be black paint lines. After receiving the report, the police went to confirm that the Aichi Prefectural Police are currently investigating on suspicion of damaging equipment, and the graffitied cloth strips have been replaced.

The Aoi-Nagoya Asian Games is about to open on the 19th, and the incident occurred just as the Taiwanese delegation was preparing to compete, and the safety of the players has also attracted attention.

Li Yiyang, the representative in Japan, expressed concern about this today. He hopes that the Japanese police will help improve safety and reminds the players and teams to pay more attention to safety precautions. If there is any emergency, the representative office in Japan will provide the fastest assistance.

According to information obtained by the representative office, the Economic and Cultural Office in Osaka has confirmed that the Japanese police have begun an investigation, and the Nagoya City Council has also expressed concern about the matter; the Osaka office continues to maintain contact with the police, the Nagoya City Government, and the City Council.

After the incident was reported by Japanese media, it also aroused discussion among Japanese netizens. Since the deliberately blacked-out part included the word "country," many comments focused on Taiwan's national identity. Some Japanese netizens left messages, "I hope the Taiwan national team will not lose to this kind of harassment, come on" and "Taiwan is an upright country, I wish you all, the delegation, come on."

Some netizens believed that this may be "the work of people who do not recognize Taiwan as a country." Others directly speculated that it was related to Chinese people, and left a message saying that "normal Japanese would not do this kind of harassment." However, the Japanese police have not yet announced the identity of the suspect and the motive for the crime, and there is no evidence that the incident is related to a person of a specific nationality.

Some netizens left messages of support, saying, "Taiwan is an independent country," and hoped that Taiwanese players would not be affected by harassment and concentrate on competing. Others said that Japan should learn many things from Taiwan. It can be seen from the relevant comments that in addition to condemning the destruction of the banners, Japanese online public opinion also used many voices to publicly express support for Taiwan.