An event in Osaka will be officially renamed the “Osaka Taiwan Lunar New Year Festival” after Chinese organizers allegedly manipulated their event name to match the Taiwanese one and stole their promotional event photos.

Taiwan’s Representative in Japan Li Yi-yang (李逸洋) stated that Chinese representatives removed the word “Chinese” from the original “Osaka Chinese Lunar New Year Festival” event name to match the name of the Taiwanese event, “Osaka Lunar New Year Festival,” in an attempt to mislead and confuse the public.

Li explained that in response, the leader of a Taiwanese representative organization in Japan, Overseas Chinese Association in Osaka President Hayama Yuzo, proposed renaming the event to “Osaka Taiwan Lunar New Year Festival” beginning next year. The proposal received unanimous approval from Taiwanese and Overseas Community Affairs representatives.

Despite the confusion, this year’s festival saw around 5,000 to 6,000 attendees who formed long lines in front of stalls selling classic Taiwanese food, including Taiwanese popcorn chicken, beef noodles, ginger duck, steamed buns, pepper cakes, and scallion pancakes.