TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan has canceled a planned concert in Taipei by a Chinese rapper after he used the offensive term “Taipei, China” in promotional materials.
Wang Yitai’s planned concert on September 14 has been canceled and the artist from the southwestern city of Chengdu has been banned from the island, the Taiwanese government’s Mainland Affairs Council announced Sunday night.
The term is isolating because it describes Taipei, the island’s capital, as a Chinese city under Beijing’s rule. It echoes the government’s position to eventually annex Taiwan by force if necessary, and it undermines the island’s vibrant democracy.
Wang is not well known outside China, but he is signed to a rap label in Chengdu, a city with a vibrant art scene which has become famous for its eclectic artists and venues. It is also home to the rap group CD Rev, who gained international fame with hard-line nationalist tracks, including tracks that compare Taiwan to the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong and make lewd and misogynistic references to former president Tsai Ing-wen.
China regularly bans Taiwanese artists, many of whom are popular on the mainland, if they show any sign of support for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which advocates the island’s de facto independence from China.
While Taiwan regularly welcomes Chinese artists and the government views musical interactions as positive, the Mainland Affairs Council said “cross-Strait exchanges should be conducted on the principles of reciprocity and mutual respect, and publications or promotions that belittle Taiwan’s status will not be tolerated.”
Although Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China, after the government that fled to the island in 1950 because of a civil war, the country is commonly known as Taiwan and competes in the Olympics as “Chinese Taipei” out of respect for Beijing, whose pressure has reduced the island’s population. formal diplomatic allies up to only 12.
