Taiwan singer makes ‘offensive’ joke about China’s Henan province ‘scammers’ during concert there, apologises after backlash
- Singer says sorry about comment made in poor taste at China gig
- Not first time she caused offence with outspoken remarks
Popular Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang Cheng-lin stunned her audience at a concert in central China’s Henan province with an “insulting and offensive” comment.
She said inhabitants of the region “love cheating people”, but subsequently apologised for what she later admitted was an “offensive and impolite joke” after it triggered an online backlash.
According to a concertgoer, a kissing couple from the audience were caught on camera and appeared on a big screen at the back of the stage, which got the audience cheering. Yang, who could not see the screen, asked the couple to swing their glow sticks.
Her enthusiastic fans swung their sticks for her and it was then that the singer made the controversial remark that Henan people are “famous for loving and cheating people”.
Yang made the comment during her concert in the province on December 9, apologising for the blooper within 24 hours on her official Weibo account.
A member of the audience told Chinese media outlet Dingduan News that he immediately realised Yang had “said something wrong again”.
The Taiwanese singer and actress last sparked a public outcry about 20 years ago when she claimed the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression lasted “only eight years”.
She regained popularity on the Chinese mainland in recent years after she tied the knot with singer and songwriter Li Ronghao, who is from eastern China’s Anhui province.
Yang is not the first celebrity who has attracted attention for their tactless remarks on Henan people.
In 2010, Chinese actress Hao Lei posted 30 messages in one day on her Weibo account, which were all negative remarks about people from Henan, where her ex-husband is from. She later apologised and deleted all the posts.
In 2017, during China Central Television’s Spring Festival Gala, which is widely watched by Chinese people as part of the celebrations on Lunar New Year’s Eve, a performance by comedian Guo Donglin caused outrage when it featured a phone scammer with a Henan accent.
The show’s scriptwriter claimed responsibility and apologised, explaining that he was the one who did the dubbing and was speaking in his own dialect.
People from Henan province have long been discriminated against by the rest of China, suffering stereotyping and being the butt of jokes made in poor taste.
On the Chinese Quora-like question-and-answer platform Zhihu, contributors claimed the attitude towards the residents of Henan is really discrimination against poor people and migrant workers, of which there is a high number in the province.
But times are changing and many online commenters are angry about such attitudes towards regional differences.
“The joke is not funny at all. No one likes to hear bad comments about their hometown,” said a person on Weibo.
“The stereotype about Henan is outdated and discriminative, and should never appear in a public speech,” said another.
