So as you Know Twice isnt a stranger to being thrown into scandals and controversies. Some of these scandals/controversies have been warranted and many of them have not been. In the upcoming threads I will talk about most of the scandals and the incidents behind the scandal and why it caused a fuss. Each thread will go over either one scandal/controversy or multiple depending on the seriousness of the scandal. I will try to cover the controversy's chronologically but if I miss a few I will have to circle back to them. Like I said, I will also cover controversys that might reflect badly on Twice as well. However, I dont think it is terrible to acknowledge when an artist you like does bad things, this doesn't make them bad people. Keep this in mind when I bring up a controversy. The first scandal I will discuss is probably one of the biggest in Kpop history.........
The Flag Incident: Twice Debut into Geopolitics
(Tzuyu waving the Taiwanese and Korean flags on My Little Television)
Background
This scandal can be traced to the geopolitical conflict between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). From roughly 1912 to 1949, the Republic of China controlled various parts of China and claimed sovereignty over the entirety of China. However, in the 1920s the the Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded and looked to organize China along Marxist-Leninist lines. The CPC initially worked with the Kuomintang government of the ROC to opposed Japanese imperialism, but in the late 1920s the leader of the Kuomintang brutally purged the members of the CPC from the ROC government. This purge killed many communist and began the 1st phase of the Chinese Civil War between the Communists and the Kuomintang from 1927~1936. In this first phase, the Kuomintang generally had the advantage and thousands of communists were killed by the ROC government. However, in the mid-1930s, Japanese imperialist began to make deeper incursions into China and both sides of there Civil War agreed to a truce and the formation of a United Front against the Japanese. This United Front lasted until the collapse of the Japanese in 1945. Fighting between the two sides quickly resumed and this time the communists had the upper hand. By 1949, the Kuomintang ROC had effectively lost complete control of mainland China and was forced to flee to a small island known as Taiwan. Tensions have remained since then between both countries and both claim to be the true government of China. Over the years however, many Chinese on Taiwan have begun to identify themselves as Taiwanese and less so Chinese. This is especially true of the younger generations. Tzuyu is from Taiwan, and presumably identifies somewhat with her native country. In and of itself this would not be a problem, however in the geopolitical hot box of Chinese-Taiwanese relations this became a huge issue. Added to this is there fake that in the past other Taiwanese-born stars in China have been accused of being Taiwanese nationalist that just come to mainland China to make money. Thus, Taiwanese stars have to always be careful when marketing themselves in mainland China.
The Incident
On November 28th, 2015 Twice members Sana, Momo, Mina, and Tzuyu, the foreign line of Twice, appeared on a Korean variety show known as My Little Television. The group mates were promoting their debut album The Story Begins. During a segment of the show, the girls were encouraged to wave the flag of their home country. Thus, Sana, Momo, and Mina waved the Japanese flag along with the Korean flag and Tzuyu waved the Taiwanese flag with the Korean flag. The broadcast finished without incident and no-one thought much of the show.
The Backlash in China
However, in early January of 2016 a Taiwan born singer known as Huang An posted on his Sina Weibo account that Tzuyu was a traitor to mainland China and was promoting Taiwanese independence by waving a Taiwanese flag on a South Korean TV show. He then reported her to the authorities at Sina Weibo for harmful conduct. The backlash against Tzuyu was quick with many Chinese news outlets publishing about Huang An's post and with many online commenters calling for Twice's upcoming performance at the Anhui Spring Festival Gala to be canceled. Tzuyu also immediately received thousands of hate comments and death threats from nationalist Chinese people. The effects on Tzuyu and Twice were immediate. Tzuyu's CF deals with LG and Huanwei were canceled, Twice's recording for Beijing's Spring Festival Gala was edited out, Kuwo music removed all JYP artists songs from their platform, Kuguo music removed all of Twice's music from its platform, Hunan TV released a statement that it would not allow supporters of Taiwanese independence to appear on its channel. Tzuyu, and Twice, was effectively banned from promoting and appearing in any Chinese platform or media. While the attacks against Twice as a whole increased in China, Tzuyu received special attention as thousands if not millions of mainlanders accused her of profiting off of mainland Chinese people while supporting Taiwanese independence. She was labeled a traitor and many death threats were sent her way. Her public image in China, along with Twice as a whole, was severely damaged.
The Apology
The backlash was so intense against Tzuyu indivudaly, Twice as a group, and ultimately JYPE as a company that Tzuyu made a public apology through a video posted on JYPE's YouTube channel. In the video a visibly shaken Tzuyu bows to the camera and apologized for her actions. She states that there is only one china and that she is proud to be Chinese. She apologized for creating problems for Taiwan and China, and apologized for creating problems for her company and group. She announced that she would cease all activities in China to reflect on her actions. Tzuyu ended the video by bowing again while apologizing. There are two videos below, one if an English translation of her apology and the other is a link to her apology which is still up on JYPE's main channel. JYPE founder Park Jin-young also released an apology for the hurt the incident caused to the Chinese people.
The Backlash in Taiwan
In China, Huang An pronounced a victory and claimed that they had finally won over a child's proper respect for their motherland. He went on to announce that he would have a press conference about the scandal in February 3rd. Some mainlanders were not satisfied by her apology and called out Tzuyu's apology for it's insincerity and claiming she only made an apology to again profit off mainlanders. While some mainlanders claimed victory over the apology, many Taiwanese were angered that a fellow citizen, a child, was made to make such a forced apology for holding up the flag of her country. Millions of Taiwanese people were angered by what they saw as an innocent girl being forced to make a humiliating apology for expressing her Taiwanese identity. It angered Taiwanese people so much that it is estimated that the incident had a minor effect on the Taiwanese presidential election held the day after the posting of the apology video. While the effect did not greatly impact the overall outcome, Democratic Progressive candidate Tsai Ing-wen was already projected to win, it is estimated that it encouraged millions of young Taiwanese people to vote and raised her margin of victory by 1-2%. In her first press conference after winning, President Tsai mentioned the profound anger that many Taiwanese felt due to the incident.
The Aftermath
The effect of this incident were long lasting. For Twice the incident signaled a halt to any present or future Chinese activities. This effect lasts to this day though it is unlikely that Twice specifically is targeted anymore, the incident has had a cooling effect on their, and JYPE's, want rot promote Twice in China. It effected Tzuyu deeply as she received criticism from hundreds of thousands of people and was called a traitor by many people. She lost CF opportunities and it is likely JYPE has been reluctant to promote her in Taiwan due to a fear of backlash from China which could effect JYPE's Chinese groups. It is also estimated that the incident increased the Taiwanese identity among young folks. This is not to say those young folks did not feel this way before but that the incident was further reminder of the differences that exist between mainlanders and Taiwanese people. Overall, the incident was one of the biggest scandals I think any group has experienced in Kpop history and the biggest scandal Twice has ever experienced.
