China has pressured Taiwanese rock band Mayday to make pro-China comments ahead of next month’s elections, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation and a security note reviewed by Reuters.
The Chinese National Radio and Television Administration had asked Mayday to publicly voice support for Beijing’s claims that Taiwan is part of China and to join China’s “media propaganda on Taiwan,” an internal Taiwanese security note says.
The note from earlier this month cited intelligence on Chinese government activities gathered by Taiwanese authorities.
Photo courtesy of B’in Music
Mayday is among the most successful Taiwanese bands in China, a market that has become increasingly challenging for Taiwanese celebrities as Beijing steps up its political pressure to assert its sovereignty claims.
Two Taiwanese security officials looking into the matter said that to pressure the rock stars, Chinese authorities earlier this month announced an investigation into Mayday, following allegations on Chinese social media that the band had lip-synched during one of their concerts in China.
Mayday’s management company, B’in Music, did not respond to requests for comment.
B’in Music has previously denied allegations of lip-synching during the band’s tour last month in China, where the practice is prohibited.
The Chinese Publicity Department, which oversees the radio and television administration, and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said it is “fake news from start to finish.”
A source with direct knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity, said that Chinese authorities asked the band to provide unspecified “political service,” but the rock stars did not agree to the request.
In response, authorities threatened the band with the lip-synching probe and a fine, the person said.
“They will have to pay if they do not cooperate,” the person said.
The investigation’s findings and any penalties for Mayday have not yet been made public.
The two Taiwanese officials said the campaign was led by the publicity department in a move to sway voters ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections.
By doing so, Chinese authorities believe they could “sway the youth vote in Taiwan,” one of the officials said.
They described the scale of the cross-department campaign against Mayday as “unprecedented,” which involved coverage on the lip-synching allegations by the People’s Daily, state broadcaster China Central Television and Xinhua news agency.
Straits Exchange Foundation spokeswoman Tsai Meng-chun (蔡孟君) yesterday said that the foundation is “extremely unhappy” that anyone engaging across the Taiwan Strait would be subject to political pressure, adding that such actions are detrimental to cross-strait exchanges.
Vincent Chao (趙怡翔), spokesman for the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, Vice President William Lai (賴清德), said that China does not even spare musicians.
As election day approaches, Chinese interference is to intensify, he said, calling on the opposition to stand together in condemnation.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential campaign spokesperson Wang Ming-hsu (王敏旭) said the campaign “strongly condemns” China’s behavior, if it is true, and called on Chinese authorities to clarify the matter.
Mayday is a band enjoyed by Mandarin speakers across generations, Wang said, adding that China should not force musicians or artists to express a political stance.
Tai Yu-wen (戴于文), spokesperson for the Taiwan People’s Party campaign, agreed that politics should not interfere with culture, and condemned Chinese election interference as not conducive to cross-strait exchanges.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu, Chen Yun, Hsu Chuo-hsun and Huang Ching-hsuan
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS