TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japan may risk the ire of China and call Taiwan the name it uses, Taiwan, rather than the title it was given, the Republic of China, at former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s state funeral on Tuesday (Sept. 26).

Typically, the names of countries are read aloud when flower offerings are made. Even so, Japan will likely follow protocol and not invite Taiwan to a later event when condolences are offered to Abe’s wife. Also, the Taiwan delegation will be seated in the regions section, according to a Japan Times report on Sunday (Sept. 25).

As for China, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Wan Gang (萬鋼), is expected to turn up. Taiwan’s representatives will be Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), who is in charge of bilateral affairs, plus former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Japan.

These occasions can be fraught and a measure of the shifting state of relations between the three powers of Taiwan, Japan, and China. For example, Taiwan was not mentioned in a presenting flowers address in 2012 for the previous year’s tsunami and earthquake victims. But it was the year afterward.