Taiwan representative boycotts Nagasaki bombing anniversary ceremony over seating arrangement

Mr. Lee said he and two deputies boycotted because their designated seats as representatives of Taiwan were not among those reserved for diplomatic missions. Mr. Lee instead sent a lower-ranked official from Fukuoka

Taiwan's top economic representative in Japan said he boycotted this year's memorial marking the 81st anniversary of the United States. atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki, accusing city officials of being pro-China and insulting Taipei. Lee Yi-yang, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Tokyo, said in a social media post that seat assignments showed Nagasaki “deliberately denied Taiwan’s status as a nation, completely disregarding Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity.” Lee said he and two of his deputies boycotted the ceremony because their designated seats as representatives of Taiwan were not among those reserved for diplomatic missions. Lee instead sent a lower-ranked official from Fukuoka. Nagasaki acted as “a pawn of China's insistence that Taiwan is not a state and has no sovereignty,” Lee's office said in a statement. Nagasaki officials said seats for Taiwanese officials were located behind other envoys and were not clearly distinguished as nondiplomatic guests. Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki told reporters later Monday that he had sinc