More than 800 Chinese participants who registered for the 2026 Asia Pride Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, are absent from the event after their entry process stalled amid security and documentation concerns.
The 2026 Kaohsiung Asia Pride Games have opened in Taiwan without any competitors from China, despite 834 Chinese participants having registered for the LGBTQ+ sporting event.
According to Focus Taiwan, around 1,900 athletes from 18 countries had checked in for the Games, which opened on Friday in the southern port city of Kaohsiung. However, no Chinese participants were in attendance, following a dispute over entry procedures and allegations that some applicants had submitted questionable materials or held party, government or military affiliations in China.
The Kaohsiung City Government’s Sports Development Bureau previously said the 834 Chinese registrants represented a sharp increase from previous editions of the Games, which had typically seen only double-digit participation from China. The Taipei Times reported that the Chinese applicants made up 834 of 1,804 registered participants — around 46 percent of the total.
Taiwanese authorities said concerns were raised after some applicants were found to have no clear sporting background, submitted documents suspected of being AI-generated, or indicated links to China’s military, government or Communist Party structures.
The situation appears to have become tangled in Taiwan’s more complex entry rules for Chinese nationals, who require special entry permits. Focus Taiwan reports that organisers informed Chinese participants they could not enter Taiwan because the application process had not been completed in time, and that registration fees would be refunded.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council has suggested the issue was partly procedural, saying the organiser had not prepared the necessary documents in time. However, the council also noted that even if Taiwan approved entry, Chinese authorities would still need to issue exit permits — and that athletes might not receive such permits if they stated they were travelling to Taiwan for the Pride Games.
The controversy also lands against a difficult backdrop for LGBTQ+ communities in China. In November, Apple confirmed it had removed two of China’s biggest gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, from its Chinese App Store following an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China. The Associated Press reported that the removals came amid intensifying pressure on LGBTQ+ communities and advocacy groups in China, despite homosexuality having been decriminalised there in 1997.
For Taiwan, which became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, the Games are both a sporting event and a statement of visibility. The 2026 Asia Pride Games are continuing in Kaohsiung under the slogan “Play with Pride”. But this year, one of the event’s biggest stories may be the hundreds of athletes who never made it to the starting line.
