China Boycotts Yeosu Expo, Cancels Council Ties Over 'Taiwan Pavilion'

The moves signal mounting pressure from Chinese local governments and legislatures on the South Korean city over the issue. According to the 2026 Yeosu World Island Expo organizing committee on Thursday, Zhoushan City in China's Zhejiang Province, which had planned to operate a promotional pavilion at the expo, informed the committee the previous day that it would not participate. A committee official told The Hankyoreh that 30 overseas local governments had agreed to run promotional pavilions during the expo, and that Zhoushan was one of them, but it cited 'a series of recent problems' related to the Gwangju Biennale's Taiwan Pavilion as the reason for its withdrawal. The boycott is expected to affect the expo's goal of attracting 90,000 visitors, as Zhoushan had earlier indicated that up to 5,000 people would attend.