China fears give Sony stage fright

Sony Music Entertainment doesn't want its line up of Taiwanese stars partying alongside the man famous for once dressing up as a cross between Michael Jackson and Superman.

But it's not that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lacks hip cachet and a sense for what's cool.

According to a music industry source, Sony fears an appearance of its roster of stars alongside Chen could cost its singers the opportunity to perform in China.

"Sony can't take the risk of its artists being banned in China," the source told the Taipei Times yesterday. "Just look what happened to A-mei (阿妹)."

Sony Music had been competing with rival MTV Asia for the chance to put on a show in front of the Presidential Office on New Year's Eve.

As a part of Sony's bid, the music company planned a performance by more than 10 of its artists, including heavyweight Coco Lee (李玟), pretty-boy vocal group F4, Harlem Yu (瘐澄慶) and David Huang (黃大煒).

Helping with Sony's bid was Hong Kong-based broadcaster Asia Plus Broadcasting Ltd, Taiwan's Touch Radio and entertainment queen Chang Hsiao-yen (張小燕).

In addition, Asia Plus -- using its "good connections in China" -- had plans to air the show live on unidentified cable channels in Beijing and Shanghai.

But when company officials learned President Chen would be appearing on stage with the music artists, Sony backed out of the bidding process.

"At the very last minute [the government] laid out a new condition: The president will do the countdown [to the new year] with your artists," the source said.

"Sony skipped the final stage of the bidding," disqualifying themselves from the event, he said.

It's no surprise that Sony caught a case of stage fight. Last year, pop diva A-mei was chastened by Beijing after singing the national anthem at Chen's inauguration. Chinese state-controlled media accused her of "backing Taiwanese separatists."

The music industry source said lining up recording artists on stage next to the president could have resulted in a political gaffe, costing Sony money and its artists their livelihood.

"Mainlanders would see a person representing another country that they don't recognize, so they wouldn't want to see A-bian on Chinese TV," the source said.

Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪), presidential office spokeswoman, downplayed the news yesterday, saying appearances by Chen were customary at Presidential Office events.

Chen will go on stage Dec. 31 for a few minutes to extend New Year's greetings to the nation, the spokeswoman said.

With Sony dropping the curtain on its plans, that leaves MTV Asia as the winner of the quest to host the New Year's Eve party.

A source at MTV in Taiwan said the show must go on -- at least in Taiwan and other Chinese-speaking countries.

"The broadcast will be seen live in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore -- but not in China. We have a separate channel in China," the source said.

Liu Tien-jian (劉天健), a senior director at Sony, said he didn't know the reason why the music company had opted out of the bidding for the Presidential Office event.

The company instead will set up its New Year's Eve show in front of the Tainan City Government building.