TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A contestant shown as representing “Taiwan-China” at Vietnam’s Miss Cosmo pageant prompted Taiwan to clarify that it did not send any official representatives.

Miss Taiwan Huang Yun-fei (黃韻霏) on Thursday shared a photo on Threads showing the contestant wearing a sash labeled “Taiwan-China,” per Liberty Times. She said that there had been discussions about her representing Taiwan, but the plan was canceled after the organizers added a last-minute registration fee. 

Huang emphasized that Taiwan has not authorized anyone to participate under its name in this year’s competition. She later added another photo of the alleged Taiwanese contestant identified as Sienna Xiong (熊文瑄). 

The Miss Cosmo Facebook page lists Xiong as being a 27-year-old environmental engineer, fashion model, and “seasoned beauty pageant contestant in China.” It says that she obtained a master's degree in environmental engineering and led large-scale environmental remediation projects worth over NT$883 million (200 million yuan).

The organizers’ promotion highlighted Xiong’s appearances at Shanghai Fashion Week and China International Fashion Week as a special guest. It praised her for “blending elegance with intellect” while representing Taiwan, claiming her image aligns with the pageant’s core concept of “Impactful Beauty.”

In addition, a Weibo post from the Wuhan-based company DS Model labeled Xiong as one of its models and congratulated her in 2024 for achieving second place in the Hubei regional competition of Miss Universe China. As the controversy continues, commentators are urging the organizers to address the nationality labeling issue to prevent similar disputes in the future.