Pop singer Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹), better known
as A-mei, was forced to cancel a performance in Hangzhou on Saturday night after a "protest" by hundreds of students. The students targeted A-mei because she sang the national anthem at President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration in 2000.
Apparently, this makes A-mei an eternal "pro-Chen singer" and a lifelong "traitor."
With this development we see how the spotlight is shifting in the battlefield of cross-strait relations: Antagonism is now moving back toward the realm of popular culture.
A-mei is an internationally recognized singer who has devoted fans on both sides of the Strait. To sing at Chen's inauguration as a Taiwanese citizen was an honor for both herself and for her nation. At
the time, however, A-mei's few minutes on stage resulted in a four-year media blackout in the Chinese media. Now, once again, Beijing is using her as an example to other Taiwanese performers.
The protest, such as it was, smacked of mobilization by Chinese Communist Party hacks. After organizers of the concert canceled A-mei's show, many of her fans in China felt that their rights had been trampled on and denounced the protest. Other Chinese Internet users compiled a list of "pro-Chen, pro-green" personalities which -- hilariously enough -- included singers who have openly supported the pan-blue alliance.
By targeting someone as manifestly apolitical as A-mei, whose cultural and commercial success has shown a way forward for people on both sides of the Strait, Beijing has once again damaged its credibility -- even among Chinese. It has made A-mei an unwitting pawn and has gone a long way toward destroying a channel for cross-strait friendship. It is now resorting to an extremism that is both bizarre and neurotic and is politicizing an industry which, in this part of the world, usually avoids politics like the plague.
Subtle tactics sometimes work best in the manipulation of politics and economics. On the surface of things, most people are not able or interested to see these forces in action, but at a time of highly developed communications and of vibrant popular culture in a largely affluent society, the
effective boycott of A-mei is both pointless and counterproductive.
It shows off China's disregard for human rights and its proclivity for intolerance while reinforcing among Taiwanese businesspeople the need to minimize risk and keep a safe distance from Beijing's meddling.
The majority of people on both sides of the Strait look forward to the development of better and closer relations between Taiwan and China.
But even if there were 50 million or even 500 million people who would work to promote such relations, Beijing has managed to ensure that a sham demonstration by a few hundred cronies will destroy the work done by many people of talent and goodwill.
If Beijing continues to encourage such stupidity by targeting this and other thriving cultural markets, it can only lead to rising dissatisfaction and the erosion of trust among ordinary people, especially among its increasingly bourgeois youth.
So much for a united front.
Yesterday’s recall and referendum votes garnered mixed results for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). All seven of the KMT lawmakers up for a recall survived the vote, and by a convincing margin of, on average, 35 percent agreeing versus 65 percent disagreeing. However, the referendum sponsored by the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on restarting the operation of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County failed. Despite three times more “yes” votes than “no,” voter turnout fell short of the threshold. The nation needs energy stability, especially with the complex international security situation and significant challenges regarding
Most countries are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II with condemnations of militarism and imperialism, and commemoration of the global catastrophe wrought by the war. On the other hand, China is to hold a military parade. According to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, Beijing is conducting the military parade in Tiananmen Square on Sept. 3 to “mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.” However, during World War II, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) had not yet been established. It
There is an old saying that if there is blood in the water, the sharks will come. In Taiwan’s case, that shark is China, circling, waiting for any sign of weakness to strike. Many thought the failed recall effort was that blood in the water, a signal for Beijing to press harder, but Taiwan’s democracy has just proven that China is mistaken. The recent recall campaign against 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, many with openly pro-Beijing leanings, failed at the ballot box. While the challenge targeted opposition lawmakers rather than President William Lai (賴清德) himself, it became an indirect
A recent critique of former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s speech in Taiwan (“Invite ‘will-bes,’ not has-beens,” by Sasha B. Chhabra, Aug. 12, page 8) seriously misinterpreted his remarks, twisting them to fit a preconceived narrative. As a Taiwanese who witnessed his political rise and fall firsthand while living in the UK and was present for his speech in Taipei, I have a unique vantage point from which to say I think the critiques of his visit deliberately misinterpreted his words. By dwelling on his personal controversies, they obscured the real substance of his message. A clarification is needed to
RSS