currently WIP
About
The 2016 Flag Incident refers to an online and offline controversy that sparked in East Asia over K-pop band TWICE member Tzuyu Zhou (tc: 周子瑜, kr: 쯔위, also known as Chewy) being accused of being a radical advocate of Taiwanese independence by an older artist Huang An.
Background
The legal status of Taiwan has been a complex and sensitive topic in cross-strait relationships between the ROC and the PRC.[1][2] The current political status quo is neither a true independence nor a true unification, which often is a source of controversy, such as the meaning of “China” on the two sides of the debate.
The usage of the Taiwanese flag in events have been viewed by the Chinese government as a challenge to the status quo. Earlier incidents involving China censoring the Taiwanese flag include singer-songwriter Deserts Chang being banned in China after a London performance.
Huang An (黃安), a Taiwanese artist famous in the 90s, became famous in China for his strong sentiments against Taiwanese independence and starting a witchhunt of other artists for whom he labeled as “independence radicalists”, earlier instances include Taiwanese singer-songwriter Crowd Lu (盧廣仲) and Hong Kong actor Wong He (王喜).
Developments
On January 8th, 2016, Huang posted on Weibo[3], accusing Zhu-yu Chou, a member of the Kpop band TWICE, as being a radical Taiwanese independence advocate because she waved a Taiwanese flag during a video. Huang asked his followers to spread the word to bar all activities of TWICE in China.
Initial fallout
Apology Video
On January 15, 2016, the night before the 2016 Taiwanese general election, JYP Entertainment released an apology video from Tzuyu. The video garnered 6 million views within 2 weeks.
大家好，我有話想對大家說。我是周子瑜，對不起，應該早些出來道歉，因為不知道如何面對現在的情況，一直不敢直接面對大家，所以現在才站出來。中國只有一個，海峽兩岸是一體的，我始終為自己是一個中國人而感到驕傲，我做為一個中國人在國外活動時，由於言行上過失，對公司對兩岸網友的情感造成了傷害，我感到非常非常地抱歉，也很愧疚，我決定中止目前中國的一切活動，認真反省。再次再次地向大家道歉，對不起。Translation:
Greetings everybody, I have something to say. I am Tzuyu Zhou, I am sorry, I should have apologized earlier, because I don’t know how to face the current situation, I was afraid to face everyone, which is why I came out just now. There is only one China, the two sides of the strait are the same, and I have always been proud for being Chinese, me being Chinese, during activities outside of my country, because of the mistakes in my actions and words, have harmed the emotions to the company and netizens on both sides, for this I feel deeply apologetic and regretful. I have decided to halt all activities in China, and reflect upon this. Once again, I apologize deeply to everyone, I am sorry.
Impact after video
Many media outlets called the video “ISIS-like”[4][5] and criticized JYP entertainment for forcing a 16 year old girl to speak on a political issue to protect themselves, although a later statement indicated that this video was produced after permission from her parents.