TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An international flag festival in the French city of Lyon turned down a request from a Taiwanese group to participate after China voiced objections, reports said Saturday (June 10).

The annual “Fete des Bannieres du Monde” features a parade, a market, and participants from at least a dozen countries wearing traditional costumes. The next edition, organized by the city government, is scheduled for Sept. 16.

However, following months of exchanges, the organizers told the local Taiwanese committee by phone in late May that Chinese had contacted them asking that Taiwan would not participate in the festival, CNA reported. As a result, the organizing committee turned down Taiwan’s application.

The Taiwanese group, the “Association Culturelle des Taiwanais de Lyon” (ACTL), insisted that its desire to participate was completely unrelated to politics. It wrote a letter to the chair of the organizing committee last week to emphasize it was only interested in representing the local Taiwanese community at a major cultural event.

At last year’s parade, the group reportedly was too late to file an application, so its members walked along holding Taiwanese flags on the outskirts of the main group. The Chinese delegation demanded the organizers call in the police, while staff asked the Taiwanese to put away their flags, ACTL said.

The most recent application process began with a letter from ACTL in October. Repeated calls for information about meetings to decide on Taiwan’s participation did not produce a clear reply until the refusal in late May, ACTL said.