Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
語言:
English
Photo Credit: Mayday/Facebook
IN THE WAKE of Lai Ching-te’s presidential inauguration a number of Taiwanese entertainers that work in the Chinese market have made statements expressing their opposition to Taiwanese independence. This has often taken the form of entertainers reposting statements from Chinese state-run outlet CGTV.
This includes a number of individuals, including Angela Chang, Darren Wang, Jiro Wang, Kenji Wu, Ouyang Nana, Patty Hou, and Rainie Yang. Some of these comments are not surprising.
Ouyang Nana, for example, has a history of pro-unification statements. Ouyang is the daughter of KMT lawmaker Ouyang Long, who was himself an actor before entering electoral politics. Even so, Ouyang Nana’s history of such statements, as well as her family background, has not prevented her from coming under fire for purported pro-independence views in the past. This would be a product of how statements that are read as pro-unification in Taiwan can sometimes still be read as pro-independence in China, as a result of the differing political discourse between Taiwan and China.
It proved more surprising, however, that indie band Mayday had apparently caved, with recent comments by lead singer A-shin referring to “We Chinese.” Jolin Tsai is among the other entertainers to make similar statements in past weeks, referring to herself as Chinese, even as there was previously scrutiny on that pro-LGBTQ songs by the entertainer have been censored in China.
Mayday previously faced an investigation over lip-synching allegations shortly before the 2024 Taiwanese elections took place. International news reporting stated that this was punishment from China, as a result of Mayday being asked to perform some unspecified political service for the Chinese government and refusing to do so. This may have been, indeed, taking a stance against Taiwan’s political independence.
Subsequently, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) denied the report while KMT politicians such as Jaw Shaw-kong also claimed that this story had been concocted by the DPP to fearmonger over China. Jaw stated that he would persecute the international media responsible for the story if elected.
Mayday was later cleared of the allegations by Chinese authorities, some months after the election.
At the time of the election, Jaw called on Mayday to itself come forward with the truth, using it to attack the DPP. The band, however, remained silent.
Photo credit: Mayday/Facebook
More generally, Mayday has largely sought to avoid being pinned down with political views that would lead to it being blocked from the Chinese market. Nevertheless, during the 2014 Sunflower Movement, bassist Masa expressed support for the youth-led occupation, before pressure from Chinese fans led the group to declare that it was not against the Cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement that the movement opposed.
Mayday’s now apparent willingness to declare itself Chinese has led to some reactions in Taiwan, then. To this extent, both KMT and DPP politicians criticized the Chinese government for coercion of Taiwanese celebrities. This proves somewhat surprising behavior on the part of the KMT, which otherwise also reacted against Lai’s inauguration because there was no admission of the 1992 Consensus or reference to “One China” in his comments.
Earlier in the month, news reported indicated that Taiwanese actor Wu Mu-hsuen was made to sign a pledge of agreement with China’s territorial claims over Taiwan. Details of this pledge were disclosed by Wu’s agent, Chen Hsiao-chih. This was a condition for the broadcast of the online drama “Hey! Come a Bit Closer”, which had finished filming. Wu was told that the drama would not be broadcast unless she signed the agreement. According to Wu’s agent, such pledges are now increasingly commonplace for Taiwanese entertainers working in China.
Taiwanese entertainers continue to face coercion in China, then. This flares up at politically sensitive times such as the presidential inauguration, but had also come up at other potentially sensitive times, such as when Taiwanese and Chinese athletes were competing against each other at international sporting competitions.
In August 2021, television host Dee Hsu, who is more widely known as Xiao S, came under fire from Chinese nationalists because of a Facebook post praising Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, who beat China to win gold medal in men’s double’s badminton in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In particular, Hsu referred to Lee and Wang as “national champions”, prompting outrage from Chinese nationalists. This led several Chinese brands including drink brand Shouquanzhai, shampoo brand Clear, and fashion brand JORYA to pull sponsorships with Hsu. This occurred in spite of Hsu’s history of pro-independence statements. But this broadly points to the political sensitivity regarding Taiwanese entertainers in China.