Popular singer's shows in China cancelled over Taiwan issue

Beijing, Jan 15: A South Korean entertainment company cancelled all performances in China by a Taiwanese teenage singer who is perceived to favour Taiwan's independence from China.

JYP Entertainment, the company that represents Chou Tzu-yu also known as Tzuyu said she has never made any remarks relating to China's politics. Tzuyu firmly upholds and respects one-China principle a statement issued by the company said.

Tzuyu is only 16 years old and is not mature enough to form her own political views, it said. China which claims Taiwan as part of its mainland is very sensitive to any political backing to the estranged province though the relations between the two improved in recent years.

Tzuyu, a member of South Korean girl group TWICE, was accused of being in favour of Taiwan independence by Huang An, a well-known singer and TV host from Taiwan. Huang made the allegations on January 8 on his Weibo account.

He claimed that Tzuyu did not respond to Sanlih E-Television's portrayal of her as a supporter of Taiwan independence.

Meanwhile, JYP said that the rumour has disturbed JYP Entertainment's daily operations in the Chinese mainland and has caused inconvenience to the group's business partners.

Several companies have also cancelled their cooperation with Tzuyu, state-run Global Times reported.

According to a post by Chinese telecom giant Huawei's consumer business group Chief Marketing Officer Zhang Xiaoyun on her Weibo account said, Huawei demanded that its South Korean marketing partner LG U+ stop cooperating with Tzuyu, claiming that her recent remarks are seriously hurtful to the Chinese people.

PTI