TOKYO – Retired two-time Olympic table tennis medallist Ai Fukuhara has been accused by her former husband Chiang Hung-chieh of abducting their son.

The Taiwanese, a table tennis player, made the claims at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on Thursday, alleging that a Japanese court had ruled last Thursday that Fukuhara was required to hand over their son.

The pair filed for divorce in July 2021 after five years of marriage, with Fukuhara and Chiang allegedly agreeing to joint custody while in Taiwan. Fukuhara gave birth to a girl in 2016 and had a son in 2019, according to The Japan Times.

Chiang’s Taiwanese lawyer, Hsu Sung-po, said at the press conference that the court had issued a temporary restraining order against Fukuhara.

The Japan Times quoted his Japanese lawyer, Aiko Ohbuchi, as saying: “Such a temporary restraining order is very rare... this is that type of (rare) case. This means Ai Fukuhara must hand over their son immediately... but she has not reached out about this matter.”

Both children had been living with Chiang, 34, until last summer. They then returned to Japan with their mother, who is also 34.

It was claimed by Chiang’s legal representatives that there had been plans for the four-year-old son to spend the summer in Japan with Fukuhara, but she has ceased contact with her former partner.

They said she brought him to Japan on Sunday and cut off contact with Chiang a week later.

Said Chiang: “My son and daughter only have one mother, so I would like to maintain relations and further consider the situation. I wish that Ms Fukuhara would please peacefully hand over my child to me.”

Ohbuchi also suggested Fukuhara may take her son overseas, claiming she took him to Singapore in 2023.

Alleged child abductions cases by Japanese spouses are a longstanding problem. Unlike many other nations, Japan does not permit dual custody for children of divorced parents.

Only one parent can gain custody, while the other may be accorded visitation rights. Some cases have seen the parent with custody blocking contact with their former partner.

On Wednesday, Fukuhara’s lawyers posted a statement on social media urging her former partner to refrain from disclosing details of their disagreements, with their case in Taiwan still pending.

Fukuhara won a silver in the team event at the 2012 London Olympics, following it up with a bronze at the same event at the Rio de Janeiro Games four years later.

She also won silver in the team event at the 2016 World Championships. She reached a career-high world ranking of No. 4 before retiring from the sport in 2018.