This is a brief description
of a young 16-year-old who had influenced Taiwan’s election in just one night. Chou
Tzu-Yu became an overnight sensation in Taiwan and all over the world after she
was forced to apologize for an action, which is now known as Chou Tzu-Yu’s
incident.
Who is Chou Tzu-Yu?
Chou Tzu-Yu (周子瑜) a
Taiwan born 16-year-old was scouted into JYP at an age of 14 and was further
trained in South Korea before finally placed under a rookie group, TWICE. Her beauty
and talent had captured the heart of many South Koreans, wanting her to be part
of a girls group, in which she did in the end after some elimination scouting
rounds in South Korea. Tzu-Yu had made headlines in Taiwan and South Korea
after TWICE released their first mini-album in October 2015. She is the pride
of Taiwan she is the first local born and raised Taiwanese who entered a South
Korea girl group, which provided it is successful, will be famous in all over
the world.
TWICE consisted of
five South Koreans, four Japanese, and of Tzu-Yu, a Taiwanese. In a promotional
video of TWICE, the members were seen to hold the flag of their nationality,
and Tzu-Yu had chosen to hold the flag of Republic of China (R.O.C., Taiwan).
This action means a lot to Taiwanese as it is a very rare occasion where R.O.C.’s
flag is waved outside of Taiwan and for the first time in a South Korean girl
group. The nationalism among Taiwanese had rose, especially among youths. They
were proud of Tzu-Yu as a Taiwan’s icon rising in an international stage.
However, this had caused dissents in China, as PRC still does not recognize
Taiwan as an independent nation, and they had the authority over Taiwan and
R.O.C.’s flag should not be waved publicly, especially in international stages.
The 92 Consensus (92 共識), One China? Two Chinas? One China
and One Taiwan?
Let’s deviate from
the main issue for a while for a crash course in Taiwan’s history, which indirectly
caused the Chou Tzu-Yu incident. (Skip this if you are not interested).
During the First
Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan was ceded to the Japanese Empire under the Treaty of Shimonoseki
in 1895 by the Qing (Manchuria) Dynasty. After that, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen founded
the Kuomintang (KMT) and had overthrown the imperialist Qing Dynasty with the
cooperation of Communist Party of China (CPC). In 1945, the Japanese was
defeated in the World War II and Taiwan was returned to China. However, civil
war broke out in China between KMT and CPC right after WWII. KMT under the
leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek was forced to retreat to Taiwan in 1949 as their
last stronghold against CPC. In the end, KMT stayed on in Taiwan while CPC had
founded the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Mainland China.
KMT had implemented
Republic of China’s constitution in 1946, which that time encompasses both
Mainland China and Taiwan. However, after 1949 when KMT was defeated in the
mainland, the constitution applies only to Free China, which is the island of
Taiwan. Chiang Kai-Shek had not given up in regaining the mainland and so the
constitution of Republic of China still applies until now.
After Chiang Kai-Shek’s
death and Taiwan went into democracy eventually in the 1990s, the constitution
was amended. In an effort to improve relationships between Taiwan and Mainland
China, ministers from both sides met in Hong Kong to discuss about possible
futures. In the end, the 92 Consensus (92共識) was formed, and it was the basic
principle for Taiwan’s relation with China until now.
The 92 Consensus
states that there is only one China, however it is not clear that how the one
China was interpreted, and consensus is not a formal agreement. From PRC’s
point of view, there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China along with
the Mainland China. From KMT’s point of view, there is only one China, and
Taiwan is part of China, but did not state whether the mainland belongs to KMT’s
one China. Generally, Taiwanese do not accept this consensus and KMT’s
president that time, Lee Teng-Hui, does not admit the existence of this consensus
that time. However, in later years, KMT admitted this consensus exists and it
had made local born Taiwanese furious, wanting independence of Taiwan from
China, and does not want Taiwan to be associated with PRC in any way. However, in
order to do that, the constitution of Republic of China which governs Taiwan
must be amended.
During Chen
Shui-Bian from Democratic People’s Party (DPP) presidency, he had tried to
amend the constitution so that Taiwan will be independent. However, during that
time, the Legislative Yuan (The Legislative Assembly in Taiwan) was still
controlled by KMT, and thus Chen’s effort failed. This however had caused the
rise of pro-independence parties in Taiwan. Of course, there are
pro-unification groups that wanted Taiwan to be part of PRC. DPP is considered
a pro-independence party, but there their rise only started right now in 2016
when they became the majority of the Legislative Yuan, and they may amend the
constitution easily.
In short, the one
China different interpretation had put Taiwan in a delicate position. From PRC’s
point of view, Taiwan is part of PRC. From KMT’s point of view, Taiwan is
Republic of China. But for many local Taiwanese (those who are not pro-KMT),
Taiwan is Taiwan, China is China. Hence the interpretation of 92 Consensus
differed from each other, but it is the key that shaped the current Taiwan and
PRC relations.
How Chou Tzu-Yu came into the picture?
TWICE was invited to
perform in China by some television stations during Chinese New Year and JYP
(which is the talent company/agent for TWICE and Chou Tzu-Yu) agreed to it, the
television station had even paid the deposit to JYP for their performance. There
was no problem during that time. However, a Taiwanese artist who had went to
China for his career named Huang An (黃安) had accused Tzu-Yu of being a
pro-independence Taiwanese, because she had waved Taiwanese flag in the
promotional video of TWICE. This is not the first time Huang did such things,
he had accused several other Taiwanese artists before. Huang An had openly
declared that he supports Taiwan but he does not support Taiwan’s independence.
In addition, Huang had obtained PRC’s citizenship, making him a citizen of
China, making some people said that Huang is a traitor of Taiwan.
The accusation went
viral overnight, and the television stations which invited TWICE believed the
accusation. This had also caused some people in China voiced out their dissent
and wanted Tzu-Yu to be banned from entering China. The television stations
even wanted JYP to remove Tzu-Yu from TWICE if they still want to perform in
China (or to put it simply, secure JYP’s market in China), but JYP did not said
much about it. When the television station knew about it, they had asked JYP to
return the hefty deposit paid but JYP refused immediately, and said that they
can send some other groups to perform in place of TWICE but due the television
stations refused. The television stations even demanded JYP to apologize
publicly. In the end, JYP cannot take the pressure and had forced Tzu-Yu to
apologize.
Tzu-Yu’s apology was
recorded and broadcasted like a public humiliation. In addition, the broadcast
was less than 12 hours before the presidential and legislative elections in
Taiwan (which I am not sure it is a coincidence or conspiracy, as there were
cases where major events happened right before major presidential elections in
Taiwan). Tzu-Yu’s apology was a scripted one, she apologized to everyone,
especially TWICE supporters in China and of course, to JYP. Moreover, she had
declared herself as a citizen of PRC. The apology was ISIS styled, in which
people are held at gunpoint to apology. JYP had poured some oil into the fire
by changing Tzu-Yu’s nationality form Taiwanese to China-Taiwan in their official
website. This had caused an uproar in Taiwan, as Tzu-Yu is a pure Taiwanese and
was forced to declare herself as a PRC citizen. She gained sympathies from
Taiwan and also all over the world, because Tzu-Yu did nothing wrong but she
was subjected to public humiliation. From her facial expression in the video,
Tzu-Yu was definitely stressed from this issue and she was reluctant to
apologize. Furthermore, as a pure Taiwanese being forced to declare herself as
PRC citizen, that is a public humiliation. This is why she became an overnight
sensation all around the world.
Compiling the facts
of Tzu-Yu’s apology, these are my observations and summary of events. First,
Tzu-Yu only held R.O.C.’s flag as Taiwan’s flag in the promotional video of
TWICE, as she admits herself as a Taiwanese. Second, she was accused of being a
pro-independence Taiwanese by just waving R.O.C.’s flag by Huang An, and
subsequently Tzu-Yu was forced by JYP to apologize and declare herself as PRC
citizen, which is a public humiliation. Third, JYP forced Tzu-Yu to apologize
just to protect their interest in the China market, without considering the
feelings of their artist. As an agent, they should protect the artists, not the
other way round. Fourth, Taiwanese were angered, especially the youths who are
K-Pop fans and are following the progress of TWICE and Zhou Tzu-Yu. This
incident had a deep impact in Taiwan, as people all around Taiwan were
discussing about it apart from the presidential elections.
The aftermaths of Chou Tzu-Yu’s incident
Young Taiwanese were
at first reluctant to cast their vote for presidential and legislative
elections in the 2016 general elections in Taiwan which was at 16th
January. This is because the results are very clear and they doubted that their
votes will have any effect on the outcome of elections. However, after the Chou
Tzu-Yu incident broke out around 10p.m. on 15th January, youths had
stood up and said that they will vote even they do not want to. The transportation
system on 16th January was full with people who went home to vote,
and some even returned from overseas just to vote. The youths voting for this
election does not necessarily represent their support to any political parties,
it is just an act of protest to Chou Tzu-Yu’s apology, and wanted Taiwan to
change, so that Taiwanese who went overseas will not be humiliated anymore.
However, the total voter turnout rate for the 2016 general elections was the
lowest ever recorded. This indicates that if Chou Tzu-Yu’s incident did not
happen, youths will not come out to vote, and may even lower the voter turnout
rate.
Some even credited Chou
Tzu-Yu for Tsai Ing-Wen’s win in the presidential elections and the shift of
power in the Legislative Yuan. This is because young people had fed up of KMT’s
governance and wanted a major change in the government. I personally think it
is the ‘anyone but KMT’ concept which drove Tsai and DPP to win, and Chou
Tzu-Yu’s incident is a catalyst for this to happen. Zhou Tzu-Yu’s incident had
also made Taiwanese and PRC to review their diplomatic history of Taiwan and
PRC, wanting to know more why did this happen.
Huang An on the
other hand, did not gain anything from his accusation but instead was criticized
from both Taiwan and PRC. Taiwanese had criticized him that as a Taiwanese born
artist, he did not protect other Taiwanese but harm them in such way. Many
people even wanted the government to ban Huang An from entering Taiwan (he intended
to return to Taiwan on February). Moreover, the statement of PRC government
states that Huang An’s accusation had caused a drawback in Taiwan and PRC’s
relation. This had caused Huang An’s social media platforms to be banned both
in Taiwan and PRC, and had caused stress for Huang An.
JYP had also taken a
toll. JYP was not only subjected to criticisms in Taiwan, but in South Korea
and overseas as well, especially Japan. JYP’s stock even dropped a lot in the market
after the incident. This had caused a mini-crisis to JYP. Some Taiwanese even
wanted JYP to break their contract with Tzu-Yu, and a media company is willing
to pay for the buyout, so that Tzu-Yu can return to Taiwan and continue her
career without subjected to humiliations. Of course, realizing Tzu-Yu’s
potential, JYP refused.
The Chou Tzu-Yu’s
incident had caused war of words between netizens in Taiwan and PRC (and
overseas as well). Many people think that PRC had forced Tzu-Yu to apologize,
and this is an act of bully to a 16-year-old who had nothing to do with
politics. Netizens in PRC upheld the 92 Consensus highly as it had been a
principal for Taiwan-PRC relations. However, they exerted their dominance by
stating that Taiwan is part of China, so Tzu-Yu is a citizen of China, so she
should respect PRC. Netizens in Taiwan (especially young people) had retaliated
by stating that Taiwan is Taiwan, hence there is nothing wrong by Tzu-Yu to
wave Taiwan’s flag as a support to Taiwan. In my opinion, waving Taiwan’s flag
is just an act of support to Taiwan, not an act of disrespect to PRC. Moreover,
no one can prove Zhou Tzu-Yu does not respect PRC. However, forcing Tzu-Yu to
apologize had proved too much for Taiwanese and also the international
community. The international media even had coverage on this issue.
Summary
The Zhou Tzu-Yu
incident is what I define as politicization and public bully of an innocent
16-year-old who had nothing to do with politics. A young, pure, cute, and
innocent girl was forced to apology and reaffirm her citizenship in a public
broadcast was definitely wrong, I am sure she does not know what she did to get
her into this position and it is quite sad to see this. I personally felt that
there are many things that should be kept out of politics, this is one of the
case, why let a 16-year-old carry the burden of country politics? Tzu-Yu just
wanted to sing and dance on the stage, so why stop her? In conclusion, Zhou
Tzu-Yu’s incident influenced the political landscape in Taiwan, even she does
not have anything to do with it. I just hope that she can continue her career
free of political influences.
