TV host Dee Hsu is latest target of China's Olympic trolls

Television host Dee Hsu had expressed support for Taiwanese athletes in a post on Sunday, which has since been deleted.
Television host Dee Hsu had expressed support for Taiwanese athletes in a post on Sunday, which has since been deleted. PHOTO: ELEPHANTDEE/INSTAGRAM

TAIPEI • Taiwanese television host Dee Hsu found herself under fire from Chinese Internet users after referring to Taiwan's Olympians as "national competitors".

Hsu - who is 43 and also known as "Little S" - made the comment in an Instagram post on Sunday during the women's singles badminton final between Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan and Chen Yufei of China. Chen won the match.

The post sparked anger in China, where nationalist Internet users often police the comments of celebrities and companies for views that clash with the official narrative that both sides are "one China".

"Hsu's Ins" - short for Hsu's Instagram - quickly became one of the most searched topics on social media platform Weibo on Monday, garnering more than 520 million views as at yesterday.

"Just stay in Taiwan. That way you don't need to work so hard at being two-faced," one user said.

Hsu's Instagram comment has since been deleted.

Most Taiwanese celebrities avoid revealing their stance on Taiwan's political status for fear of being locked out of the lucrative Chinese market or angering fans at home who identify as Taiwanese rather than Chinese.

In recent years, Hsu, who started out as a singer in the 1990s before becoming one of Taiwan's most high-profile talk show hosts, has been spending more time across the Taiwan Strait building her brand.

Several companies that sponsor Hsu, including Unilever and sex-toy maker Osuga, have sought to distance themselves from her, saying they would not extend contracts with her, according to the United Daily News and other Taiwanese media.

Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai was also targeted on Monday after congratulating several of Taiwan's athletes at the Olympics, with angry Chinese Internet users asking why she had not celebrated any Chinese competitors.

Beijing views Taiwan as a part of its territory, a claim rejected by the Taiwanese government. That dispute is why Taiwanese Olympians have competed under the name of "Chinese Taipei" since 1984.

Oriental House, a Ningbo-based maker of traditional medicinal teas, said it had cancelled its contract with Hsu after her post.

"The nation's interests are more important than anything else," it said in a Weibo post.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 04, 2021, with the headline TV host Dee Hsu is latest target of China's Olympic trolls. Subscribe