Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau caused yet another stir during his concert tour, this time not for another near-miss accident on stage, but for his song choice during his three-day show at the Taipei Arena.
The Heavenly King’s performance of ‘Chinese People’, which has lyrics like, “Hand in hand, with no distinction between you and me, moving forward with heads held high, letting the world know that we are all Chinese,” sparked a debate among netizens on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The performance also featured dancers waving a large dragon, and the characters displayed on the screen were in simplified Chinese.
China’s state-run media CCTV praised Andy for “singing the pride of the Chinese people” and Mainland Chinese netizens said he did a “brilliant job” at promoting unification.
On the other hand, many Taiwanese netizens expressed dissatisfaction, criticising his choice of song as “intentional” and urging his fans to “wake up”.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party legislator Wang Ting Yu also described Andy as a “pro-Communist artist” and said he wasn’t worth watching.
“Is this footage from an Andy Lau concert in China? The [stage] design is very Chinese! I haven’t heard this song before; have you?” he asked on Threads.
Ironically, ‘Chinese People’, which was created to celebrate Hong Kong’s return to China, has been a staple in Andy’s concert tours for over two decades.
In fact, both the lyricist and composer of the well-known song are from Taiwan.