Star Wars: How Taiwan’s Celebrities Became Pawns in the Cross-Strait Struggle

The Chinese public’s witch-hunt for “pro-independence” Taiwanese stars dims the prospects of peaceful unification with Taiwan.

The Diplomat
Date: December 26, 2019
By: Jo Kim   

On Saturday, Taiwanese singer Annie Yi drew criticisms from Taiwan for reaffirming her identity as a

Chinese. Yi even remarked that her daughter’s favorite song is “I Love Beijing Tiananmen,” a song written to exalt Mao Zedong. Yi is not the first celebrity to disappoint the Taiwanese population with open declarations of supporting “One China.” Owing to mainland China’s vast market, many Taiwanese celebrities have either been forced to or chose to accord with mainland China’s political narratives.

That trend had already started back in 2015, when Taiwanese Chou Tzu-yu, a member of the K-pop group TWICE, was reported as a “pro-independence” celebrity for waving the flag of the Republic of China (ROC) on a Korean variety show. Chou released an apology video shortly after. The pressure on the then-teenager created an uproar in Taiwan that contributed one to two percentage points to presidential hopeful Tsai Ing-wen’s eventual win in the 2016 election.

Similar incidents have followed, making the realm of entertainment and culture a frequent point of political friction for the populations on both sides of the strait. In 2016 Taiwanese entertainer Show Luo lost about 10,000 fans on Facebook and gained around 50,000 fans on Weibo (the Chinese version of Twitter) after remarking “We are all Chinese” at a movie premiere. In 2019, Taiwanese performer Ouyang Nana hurried to “clarify” her support for “One China” and told the Chinese state media CCTV, “I am Chinese – I love my country,” after doubts of being pro-independence. The press has counted 42 of Taiwan’s top celebrities, such as Taiwan’s top model Lin Chi-Ling and singer Leehom Wang, who congratulated the PRC on its 70th anniversary while remaining silent on the national day of the ROC.    [FULL  STORY]