Pop music diva Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹), also known as A-mei, returned home early yesterday after performing in a controversial concert in Beijing on Saturday night. The singer was following through on her earlier vow to hold the Beijing concert despite threats of disruption by Chinese ultra-nationalists.
Throngs of protesters heckled the Puyuma Aboriginal singer, holding red banners protesting "pro-independence Taiwanese businesspeople." Her Chinese fans rushed to her defense, however, leading to scuffles between the two groups, which were quickly broken up by Chinese police.
PHOTO: AP
According to media reports, A-mei's fans begged her not to be disturbed by the raucous protesters, who were also demanding that A-mei sing March of the Volunteers, the Chinese national anthem.
The singer reportedly broke down and wept onstage, even as her Chinese supporters cheered her on and called out to her not to cry. A-mei told the estimated 10,000-strong audience that she had never felt such great pressure at a concert before.
Still, the 31-year-old singer from Taitung County carried on and finished her set.
A-mei became the focus of international controversy on June 12 when she was forced to cancel a concert in Hangzhou after students from Zhejiang University branded her a "supporter of Taiwanese independence." Several hundred students invaded a press conference at which the pop star had been scheduled to appear, chanting slogans and holding banners decrying the "green performer." Fearing for A-mei's safety, the organizers canceled her appearance.
However, the Mainland Affairs Council later described the students as "Beijing's dupes," who were probably acting with official encouragement.
The lambasting of Taiwanese performers for their supposed political preferences is a common occurrence in China. Internet discussion boards and forums often carry virulently aggressive messages attacking Taiwanese "splittists," China's propaganda term of choice for pro-independence or anti-unification figures.
After the re-election of President Chen Shui-bian (
A-mei initially gained the attention of Chinese authorities after singing the national anthem at Chen's inauguration in 2000.
At that time, the singer was blacklisted, lost a sponsorship deal with the Coca-Cola company and was subjected to a media blackout in China.
Yesterday, in a bizarre turn of events, some pro-independence groups called for a boycott of A-mei in response to comments she made upon her return, which were apparently meant to mollify her Chinese critics.
"I'm a Chinese person, and I sing Chinese people's songs," the singer told reporters at CKS International Airport.
"Shame on you A-mei. You are an embarassment to Aborigines and all Taiwanese people," one contributor wrote on a forum discussing A-mei at www.southnews.com.tw.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS