Taiwan-based Australian singer Kimberley Chen (陳芳語) performed part of a song banned in China at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit this week, and said her freedom as an artist was more important than having access to the Chinese market.
Chen performed part of the song Fragile (玻璃心), which pokes fun at nationalistic Chinese social media users, on a small platform in a space outside the venue’s main auditorium at the end of the summit’s first day on Thursday.
She also debuted a new English song, Who Says, a tune Chen said is meant to encourage people who feel persecuted.
Photo courtesy of the office of New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang
“I really hope people who feel suppressed and shut down are able to know that in the free world, we are constantly fighting for them and fighting for their rights,” Chen said.
Fragile, released on the Internet last year by Chen and Malaysian rapper Namewee (黃明志), is a Mandarin ballad that offers a tongue-in-cheek apology to “little pink,” a disparaging term that describes patriotic Chinese “keyboard warriors.”
The song to date has received more than 51 million views on YouTube and has helped Chen, who moved from Melbourne to Taipei in 2009 to pursue a music career and found fame in the global Mandarin music scene.
“I really hope that my music is able to encourage and inspire people to be themselves and not to be afraid of expression,” Chen said after performing the ballad at the summit.
Within days of the song’s release last year, Chen’s profiles on Chinese social media platforms were suspended, and her back catalog was wiped from China’s Internet.
Many people warned her of the loss of potential earnings from being banned in the Chinese market, but she believes that she has benefited in other ways, she said.
“I actually feel like I’ve gained so much. Not only am I able to stand up for what I believe in, I’m also able to do what I believe is right, and I feel like as a singer and as a songwriter, freedom and songwriting is so important for an artist,” Chen said.
The summit, held on Thursday and Friday, focused on uniting democratic forces to push back against an authoritarian tide, its Web site said.
The Copenhagen Democracy Summit began five years ago, with now-US President Joe Biden as its keynote speaker.
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