How a 16-Year-Old Changed the Political Landscape of Taiwan? Description and opinions on Chou Tzu-Yu's incident.

  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 16^th 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 15^th January, youths had stood up and said that they will vote even they do not want to. The transportation system on 16^th 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.