China-Japan ties are improving. Could a Taiwanese official test that trend?

Seated among the attendees in both cities was Lee Yi-yang, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, the island’s de facto embassy in the country.

Nevertheless, a Taiwanese official has never attended these events before and, after the ceremony in Hiroshima on Wednesday, Lee said the island hoped to have a presence there every year.

Lee’s appearance is part of a bigger effort by Taiwan to strengthen its unofficial bonds with Tokyo and raise the island’s international profile. Observers said Beijing would take a dim view of the participation, but both it and Tokyo would be careful to not undermine improving relations.

Lee’s attendance at the Hiroshima and Nagasaki events came two weeks after Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung made a rare visit to Japan.