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My Take
Why so serious about comic’s Taiwan take?
- While generally pro-Taiwan, some of John Oliver’s jokes and facts actually cut the other way, perhaps due to his own unfamiliarity with the issues
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Alex Lo has been an SCMP columnist since 2012, covering major issues affecting Hong Kong and the rest of China.
In June, a petition was launched in Taiwan to request John Oliver to do a funny episode on the island. The British-American comedian has reportedly been banned in China for roasting President Xi Jinping and slamming the treatment of Uygurs in Xinjiang.
On Sunday, he duly delivered on HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. And sure enough, that provoked the ire of mainland pundits. The fiercely nationalistic Global Times ran a commentary titled, “John Oliver’s show dodges facts about Taiwan, misleads public”.
“US elites like John Oliver,” the writer raged, “are playing dumb who are now hyping the idea of Taiwan’s so-called ‘undetermined’ status.”
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While I wouldn’t encourage anyone to watch it to learn about Taiwan’s politics and history, as a piece of entertainment, it wasn’t entirely inaccurate. Like most Westerners, he was generally pro-Taiwan. But perhaps due to his own unfamiliarity with the issues, some of his jokes and facts actually cut the other way.
In fact, they could be construed as far less antagonistic to China than those routine press statements coming out of US President Joe Biden’s White House these days.
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