Taiwan blames politics for cancellation of global Pride event

TAIPEI: Taiwan on Friday blamed "political considerations" for the cancellation of WorldPride 2025 Taiwan after it said the organisers had insisted the word "Taiwan" be removed.

Taiwan participates in global organisations like the Olympics as "Chinese Taipei", to avoid political problems with China which views the democratically-governed island as its own territory and bristles at anything that suggests it is a separate country.

Taiwan's southern city of Kaohsiung had been due to host WorldPride 2025 Taiwan, after winning the right from global LGBTQ rights group InterPride.

Last year, after an outcry in Taiwan, it dropped a reference to the island as a "region", wording that suggests it is not a country.

But the Kaohsiung organisers said InterPride had recently "suddenly" asked them to change the name of the event to "Kaohsiung", removing the word "Taiwan".

"After careful evaluation, it is believed that if the event continues, it may harm the interests of Taiwan and the Taiwan gay community. Therefore, it is decided to terminate the project before signing the contract," said the Kaohsiung organisers.

InterPride did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said the event would have been the first WorldPride event to be held in East Asia.