Taiwan cheering row overshadows China quarterfinal at Asian Cup

Taiwan face China in a tense quarterfinal of the Women’s Asian Cup, where political tensions will be at the fore.Published On 12 Mar 2026Taiwan and China will battle on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Asian Cup, where geopolitical strains have found their way to the terraces and sparked complaints from ⁠Taiwanese fans over their right to cheer on their team.Former Taiwan men’s coach Chen Kuei-jen was ejected by security staff working for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) at Western Sydney Stadium on Tuesday after leading cheers for the women’s ⁠team during their 3-1 win over India.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Pakistan’s Abrar signed by India-owned Sunrisers in Hundred auctionlist 2 of 4‘Bro, what’: LeBron, social media react to Adebayo’s historic 83-point gamelist 3 of 4Missile strikes, no flights: Middle East conflict disrupts global sportlist 4 of 4ICC rejects bias claims from stranded South Africa, West Indies cricketersend of listTaiwan fans alleged Chen was booted out for chanting for “Taiwan” rather than “Chinese Taipei”, the designation used for Taiwanese teams at international sporting events.Taiwan has long competed as “Chinese Taipei” to assuage China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own. Taiwan’s government rejects Chinese sovereignty claims.Chen’s ejection prompted the Sydney" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="43584" data-entity-type="organization">Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sydney ‌to lodge a protest with the AFC.Fans also alleged flags and pro-Taiwan banners had been confiscated at the stadium.The AFC, which organises the quadrennial Asian Cup, was investigating the Chen incident and declined to comment.World number 40 Taiwan will be the underdogs against defending champions China when they meet at Perth Rectangular Stadium.All semifinalists qualify directly for next year’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil. The four losing quarterfinalists battle for two more places in the playoffs on the Gold Coast next week.China’s previous opponent, North Korea, will be under the microscope when they meet ⁠Australia in Perth in the first quarterfinal on Friday.