Thanks to the Japanese athletes for taking the lead on this. I believe it will inspire a much larger movement in many more international sporting events, including the next Olympics.

Here's a short summary of what happened: Taiwan's flag was suddenly censored during the AIDA Freediving World Championship, due to interference from China. Taiwan was then given two options, either use the belittling "Chinese Taipei" Olympic flag or have no flag. Taiwanese chose no flag. The Japanese athletes then demanded that their flag also be censored so that they could "share the pain" with Taiwan. This inspired 9 other countries to follow suit, including Russia, the United States, Croatia, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, France, Germany, and Slovenia. 

AIDA posted a public apology to Taiwan on its website. In a related Facebook post, one Taiwanese commenter left a crying emoji and said, "It's always been an apology to China. This is the first time I've seen someone apologize to Taiwan."

The protest has already made headlines in Taiwan, but it deserves to be publicized internationally, as it sets a precedent for how to effectively stand up to Chinese bullying.

Please help spread the news, and hopefully the international press will take an interest. Here are some related links:

Apologies to Taiwan (AIDA's public apology, 9 Sept 2021)

Japan's message of protest to AIDA, requesting to "share the pain" (screenshot on Facebook)

Divers from 10 countries defy Taiwan flag ban (Taiwan News, 1 Oct 2021)

拒絕屈服中國淫威！10國AIDA選手「自願隱藏國旗」挺台灣 (Liberty Times, 1 Oct 2021)

潛水賽事直播中下架台灣國旗挨轟 AIDA在官網道歉！ (Liberty Times, 1 Oct 2021)

AIDA自由潛水世錦賽轉播撤台灣國旗 日本挺台共進退 (CNA, 1 Oct 2021)

自由潛水世錦賽轉播撤台灣國旗 日本同進退：一起承擔痛苦 (UDN, 1 Oct 2021)