New | Taiwan gives go-ahead to exhibition in Japan after museums row resolved

An exhibition of treasured artefacts from Taiwan’s National Palace Museum will open in Japan on Tuesday as planned, after Taipei and Tokyo resolved a row over the museum’s name, officials said on Monday.

“Based on the mutual trust and longtime friendship between our two museums, I have decided to attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition in Tokyo in the afternoon”, said the Taiwan museum’s director Fung Ming-chu before she boarded a flight to Japan on Monday morning.

Fung said her decision came after Tokyo National Museum, the chief organiser of the exhibition, agreed to remove or replace all posters and publicity materials that omitted the word “national” from the Taiwan museum’s full title.

Last Friday, the Taiwan museum gave its Japanese counterpart up to 11pm last Saturday to correct the names after learning that its full title was not being used on the materials as they had previously agreed to do in writing.

The Tokyo museum argued that the omission was the work of some of its sponsors, who followed the traditional practice of recognising the notion of “one China” and therefore would not refer to Taiwan as a nation.

But the claim further incensed Taipei, spurring Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou to order the cancellation of the exhibition of the full name of the Taiwan museum was not reinstated by the deadline given.

Taiwanese first lady Christine Chow Mei-ching also cancelled her plan to lead a delegation to Japan on Sunday to attend Monday’s opening ceremony.