Two of Taiwan's top pop stars are facing a backlash in China because of their performances at the presidential inauguration ceremony.
State-owned television stations, newspapers and billboard owners have been ordered to stop running a Sprite commercial featuring the singer A-mei, Coca Cola China Ltd said yesterday.
Taiwanese Aboriginal singer Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹), more popularly known as A-mei, sang Taiwan's national anthem at last Saturday's inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
"We received a notice Friday they will stop playing the advertisements. They didn't explain. They just said they received orders from above," said Brenda Lee, a spokeswoman for Coca Cola.
Another singer, Wu Bai (伍佰), known as Taiwan's "King of Live Music" had his award as Best Male Singer at a Chinese MTV Music Fest (音樂聖典) cancelled.
Internet chat rooms were already buzzing with indignation yesterday, with patriotic fans in China saying they felt betrayed by A-mei's actions, while others were confused about the fuss.
The frizzy-haired 26-year-old known for her giant platform shoes and high energy songs created a slice of history with her first-ever performance in China last year at the height of cross-strait tensions.
A spokeswoman at Chinese Central Television confirmed the state-owned station was no longer running the Sprite commercial.
"She's a Taiwan independence supporter," the woman said, when asked why the commercial was pulled.
Billboard ads showing the pop star have been replaced by plain Coca Cola or Sprite ads in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities as the nationwide ban went into force.
"You have many fans in the mainland. You knew when you sang the Taiwan national anthem, the splittists in Taiwan would applaud you, but Chinese fans were crying," one person wrote on the Sina.com Web site.
"Chinese people are very disappointed in you. We won't listen to your songs again or watch your commercial. You should apologize to all Chinese people. Otherwise, you will end up just like the Taiwan splittists," another wrote.
Another incensed writer called for drastic action against the singer: "I suggest if you're Chinese, please toss Chang Hui-mei's CD and audio products into the garbage can and anything with her picture on it."
But A-mei had some supporters, with one person asking: "What's wrong with her singing a Republic of China song?"
On the eve of the inauguration, the Most Popular Male Singer award winner was changed from Wu Bai to Chang Yu (
The Music Fest is an MTV ceremony for the Chinese language market in Asia, which was first held in Beijing last year.
According to Cheng Ming-chuang (
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