The controversy over the name of a Taiwanese exhibition venue at Gwangju Biennale is feared to grow into a diplomatic conflict between Korea and China. Chinese officials say that the biennale organizers’ permission for the participating Taiwanese artists to use the name of “Taiwan Pavilion” is against the “One China” principle, and that the decision crossed a “red line.” They warned that its impact on the bilateral relationship between Korea and China could be as serious as the diplomatic row over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system deployment in 2017. China lodged a protest on Thursday through a press release criticizing the Gwangju Biennale Foundation’s decision to permit Taiwanese artists to use the name “Taiwan Pavilion” at the international art event instead of the institutional name, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA). The release followed Chinese artists' official announcement of their withdrawal from the exhibition. In the release, the embassy said the incident “directly damages the political base of C