Taiwanese sports minister faces hour-long hold-up at Asian Games flag ceremony

An hour-long interruption marred the flag-raising ceremony ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games when Taiwan's sports minister, Lee Yang, and his delegation were temporarily turned away. Japanese officials asked all arriving delegations to return to a waiting area, citing an undisclosed reason. Wu Cheng-wen claimed the Olympic Council of Asia had sent an order to prevent Lee from attending, but venue staff could not produce such a directive.

The Taiwanese side questioned the basis for the exclusion, noting that all required applications had been completed. Following further talks with the organizers, Lee and his team were permitted to re-enter the hall and participate in the ceremony. Lee emphasized the need to protect Taiwan's rights and urged athletes to perform strongly at the Games.