TAIPEI - Taiwanese singer Cheng Chih-hua has criticised changes to the lyrics of his song Star Lighting (1992), which was performed on Chinese reality show Sisters Who Make Waves.
In the latest episode of the show on Friday (July 1), Taiwanese singer Cyndi Wang performed Star Lighting with singers Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung of Cantopop duo Twins as well as Chinese actresses Wu Jinyan and Crystal Zhang.
Cheng's original song featured these lyrics: The sky now is a piece of dirty sky/The stars in the civilised sky can no longer been seen.
However, when performed by the five female celebrities, the lyrics were changed to: The sky now is sunny/The stars in the civilised sky are always visible.
Cheng, 60, took to Chinese social media platform Weibo on Sunday, writing: "I am shocked, furious and regret that the lyrics in my classic song Star Lighting have been changed indiscriminately!"
Several netizens agreed with Cheng, as some of them said that the organisers should use another song if they did not agree with some of the lyrics.
Even Mr Hu Xijin, the retired editor-in-chief of China's nationalist Global Times tabloid, weighed in on the saga.
He wrote on Weibo on Monday: "I do not agree with such changes and feel they were unnecessary if they were done due to 'political correctness'. Political correctness should include respecting history, seeking truth and tolerating different literary and artistic expressions."
Mr Hu had also expressed support for Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung in another episode.
Cheung, who is known as the God of Songs, was criticised by Chinese netizens recently after he used the phrase "Jia you, Hong Kong" in a video he recorded marking the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule.
"Jia you" means "keep going" in Chinese, but it was also a rallying cry among protesters during the Hong Kong protests in 2019.
Mr Hu said China should unite those who share the views of the majority and not be overly critical on interpreting the artistes' words after they make the clarifications.
