Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai targeted after Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan

Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai has so far not commented on Mrs Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last week. PHOTO: JOLIN_CAI/INSTAGRAM

BEIJING - Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai appears to be the latest celebrity hit by the fallout from United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last week.

Tsai, 41, was mentioned in a Weibo post by China Media Group at 12pm on Thursday (Aug 4), in which it commended her song, Womxnly (2018), for providing "an assurance to youth".

However, those who shared the post discovered later that it had been deleted.

At the same time, the number of followers on Tsai's Weibo account has fallen by about 300,000, though she still has more than 42 million followers.

Netizens speculated that this was due to Tsai's stance after Mrs Pelosi's visit.

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and views visits by US officials to Taiwan as encouraging the independence movement on the island.

Last Tuesday night, minutes before Mrs Pelosi landed in Taiwan, China's CCTV News posted a picture with the words, "There is only one China in the world", on its official Weibo account.

More than 100 celebrities from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan then commented under the post, using the hashtag #ThereIsOnlyOneChina, and shared the post on their Weibo accounts.

Tsai was not one of them, according to a blogger who compiled a list of celebrities who did not do so.

The singer has not updated her Weibo account since July 18, with her last post showing her in a hat she had knitted.

Several Chinese netizens commented under that post, accusing her of supporting Taiwanese independence.

Tsai has so far not commented on the episode.

Meanwhile, other celebrities have also found their social media posts under scrutiny.

Taiwanese singer Hebe Tien had to delete two pictures of her eating spaghetti on Instagram after she was accused of supporting Mrs Pelosi, who is of Italian heritage.

Tien's song, Small Island (2010), was also accused by Chinese netizens of supporting Taiwan independence. The track and information on Tien were subsequently removed from Chinese music streaming service Migu Music.

Fashion brand On Identify also severed ties with its founder, Taiwanese singer-actor Aaron Yan, after he wrote a Facebook post asking fans whether they liked American or Taiwanese breakfast.

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