Taiwan protests confiscation of fan's 'Taiwan' towel at Olympic site

TAIPEI (Kyodo) -- Taiwan's Foreign Ministry on Saturday issued a statement slamming the organizers of the Paris Olympics after a towel with the word "Taiwan" printed on it was allegedly taken from a Taiwanese sports fan by a member of staff at the arena hosting the badminton competition.

The ministry called the act "excessive enforcement," referring to the incident that took place during a men's doubles semifinal match on Friday between the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist team of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan, which is competing for "Chinese Taipei," and the pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark.

According to Taiwan local media, a Taiwanese in the audience had his towel, which had the word "Taiwan" printed on it, confiscated, while at the same event, another Taiwanese had a banner that showed support for Taiwan snatched by an unknown man.

The man, who was suspected to be mainland Chinese by Taiwan local media, was reportedly escorted out of the premises by event staff.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry described the man's act as "rude and despicable," adding that the violent act is "not only uncultured but also seriously violates the civilized spirit represented by the Olympic Games."

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 due to a civil war, however, cross-strait tensions have flared since the May 20 inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing condemns as a separatist.