Japan could include Taiwan among the nations that give flowers at Shinzo Abe’s funeral

Japan it is planning include Taiwan among the names of countries that will be read aloud during floral tributes at the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next week, government sources told Kyodo News on Saturday.

The plan appears to have been made in consideration of the close ties Abe had built with Taiwan until he was killed by a gunman during a campaign rally in early July. If carried out, the sources said Japan is likely to refer to the self-ruled island as Taiwan, and not by its official ROC name.

But treating Taiwan as a country at Tuesday’s state funeral could trigger a strong reaction from China, which sees the democratic island as a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Some 4,300 people are expected to attend the service at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan hall. Of those, the government has said some 700 are likely to come from 218 foreign countries and regions, as well as international organizations.

China plans to send Wan Gang, vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, to the ceremony.

“You can invest in Japan with confidence,” Fumio Kishida said at the New York Stock Exchange.

One of the three members of the Taiwanese delegation, which according to its president’s spokesman is intended to show the “strong and true friendship” between Taipei and Tokyo, is Su Jia-chyuan, who heads an association dealing with bilateral affairs in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

The other two are former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng and Frank Hsieh, Taiwan’s current de facto ambassador to Japan and former prime minister.

Unlike the flower-laying, the Taiwanese representatives will sit between the areas for delegates from countries around the world and those for international organizations, and are expected to stand next to Palestine, which is also not a recognized country, according to the sources.

But treating Taiwan as a country at Tuesday’s state funeral could trigger a strong reaction from China.

The guest list released by the Japanese government on Thursday places the Taiwanese delegation in the region section.

Taiwanese delegates are also unlikely to be invited to an event Tuesday night after the funeral, at which representatives of foreign nations will offer condolences to the late leader’s widow, Akie Abe, and Prime Minister Fumio. Kishida, according to sources.

His guest list is limited to national leaders and heads of sitting legislative bodies.

China has spoken out against any action it considers interference in its “internal affairs”, and tensions have intensified after the visit of the president of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan in early August.

A contingency in Taiwan is also of particular concern to Japan, given the proximity of its southwestern islands, including the Senkakus, a group of islets in the East China Sea controlled by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing.

In a joint communiqué with China in 1972, Japan recognized the People’s Republic of China as China’s sole legitimate government and severed ties with Taiwan.

Since diplomatic ties between the two countries were normalized that year, Japan has adopted a stance of respect for China’s claim to Taiwan as part of its territory, while maintaining non-governmental working relations with the island.

In recent years, China has been more alert to the risks of closer ties between Japan and Taiwan, and asks Tokyo to respect the “political foundations” of their relations.

The treatment of Taiwan at an official event in Japan has caused controversy on more than one occasion in the past. Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was forced to apologize in parliament for not including Taiwan among the countries required to hand out flowers during a 2012 memorial service for victims of the previous year’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

Unlike the flower laying, the Taiwanese representatives will sit between the areas for delegates from countries around the world and those for international organizations.

While Taiwan was included in the 2013 event held under the Abe government, China refused to attend in protest, a move that was also possibly due to worsening bilateral ties following Japan’s 2012 purchase of Taiwan. the islets claimed by Beijing from their Japanese private owner.