Taiwanese pop star Show Luo is in a middle of a controversy when the singer said to a Mainland audience, "We are all Chinese." Since Jan. 17, Sunday, Luo lost more than 40,000 Facebook fans. Coincidentally, K-pop singer Chuo Tzuyu made a tearful apology after waving the Taiwanese flag during a South Korean reality TV show.
The cross-strait controversy came from a video that was posted online of a Beijing movie premier Luo attended on Jan. 14, Thursday.
While onstage, the singer was asked by an audience member how he felt about collaborating with stars from the Mainland for the film. "There's no need for such division, we're all Chinese," Luo responded to an applause.
Luo's remark did not respond well to Taiwanese fans right after the video was posted online. While Luo lost many Facebook fans, he managed to offset the losses by gaining over 50,000 followers on Chinese micro blogging website Weibo.
In response to the dispute, the Shanghaiist quoted Luo's publicist as saying that the singer is born and bred as Taiwanese but he is Chinese through an education under the Chinese culture. His publicist also explained that this is the same case for the singer's peers and those older than him.
Luo is a Taiwanese singer and actor who is well-known for hosting the Taiwanese variety show 100 percent Entertainment. In 2012, he was the second highest-paid Taiwanese celebrity.
Meanwhile, Chuo was in a similar controversy when she waved the Taiwanese flag in an online-only segment of a South Korean reality show. The incident ignited an unusual show of cooperation among the presidential candidates from Taiwan's three major political parties.
Many accused the 16-year-old K-pop singer of profiting from her Mainland Chinese audience while keeping a pro-independence stance. She made a tearful apology on Jan. 16, Saturday, for her actions. It is widely speculated that the singer's management forced her to make an apology to avoid upsetting mainlanders, which is a key market to the singer, South China Morning Post has learned.
Chou is a Taiwanese singer and member of multi-national K-pop girl group Twice. The girl group was formed through a reality TV show entitled "Sixteen" through JYP Entertainment.
Watch a music video of Luo here:
