‘I love my country’: Taiwanese actress Ouyang Nana responds to independence claims
- Taipei-born star also performs My Motherland and Me in a television appearance amid speculation that she is a supporter of Taiwan independence.
- The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council responded, saying that political figures on the island were stoking controversy, and their attitudes were “highly abnormal”.
In another case of a celebrity getting embroiled in escalating Beijing-Taipei tensions, 18-year-old Taiwanese actress and musician Ouyang Nana has declared her love for China in a television appearance after a strong mainland backlash that threatened her career.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m from Hong Kong, Taiwan or Beijing … I am Chinese – I love my country,” the actress, who was born in Taipei, told CCTV6, a channel of China’s state broadcaster.
She also wished the country prosperity as it marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
“I hope everyone together can bravely express our viewpoints, work harder to unite, and make our country proud,” she said in the interview, which aired on Monday.
To underline her message, Ouyang also sang My Motherland and Me – a popular patriotic song written in 1985.
An Fengshan, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council responded on Wednesday, saying that that there were some political figures on the island who were using the incident to stoke controversy, and their attitudes were “highly abnormal”.