China-Japan dispute: Japanese entertainers caught in the political fallout
It appears that all aspects of society cannot be separated from politics, with the entertainment industry being the latest collateral damage in the China-Japan dispute. Lianhe Zaobao China news editor Yang Danxu takes a look at the impact on musical concerts and shows over the past week.
The diplomatic storm between China and Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about a “Taiwan contingency” has been simmering for about a month, with its spillover effects growing. After several Japanese films were pulled from Chinese cinemas, more performances by Japanese artists in China were abruptly cancelled last week. Yet despite this gloomy atmosphere, Japanese singer BENI (Arashiro Beni)’s concert in Guangzhou on 29 November surprisingly went ahead as planned.
Videos circulating online show a lively atmosphere at the concert, with BENI performing a bilingual Chinese-Japanese version of I Only Care About You (《我只在乎你》) as well as the Chinese song Only One (《唯一》).
Empty concert hall and power cut
Netizens said that the blend of singing, applause and cheers created a truly successful musical feast, describing Guangzhou as “indeed an open, inclusive and trustworthy city”. Others speculated that BENI’s smooth staging of the concert could be due to her background: although regarded as a Japanese pop singer, she is of mixed Japanese-American heritage and was born in Okinawa, which may have allowed her to escape unscathed under current Chinese restrictions on Japan.
Other artists were not so fortunate. Ayumi Hamasaki, who has been known as the queen of J-pop, was scheduled to perform in Shanghai on 29 November. Before the show, she posted photos of her arrival in the city and, in a social media update, offered prayers for Hong Kong after the recent deadly fire. She also announced that fire effects would be removed from the Shanghai performance and urged fans to avoid wearing red.
Shockingly, the day before the show, the concert — which had already sold over ten thousand tickets — was suddenly cancelled due to “force majeure”. Rumours spread online claiming that Hamasaki had performed the entire concert alone in an empty venue.
However, Chinese media clarified on 1 December that a member of the concert’s camera crew had issued an apology, admitting that he had secretly taken photos during Hamasaki’s rehearsal and posted misleading content suggesting that she had “performed an entire concert alone in an empty venue”. This, in turn, had caused some we-media platforms to fabricate the story that she had performed alone.
Photos posted by Hamasaki on her social media account a day earlier on 30 November did show her performing in an empty venue, with lighting, costume, staging and set design all seemingly in place. Whether these images were from a full dress rehearsal before the concert, however, was not specified in the post.
Even more awkward than Hamasaki’s situation was that of Japanese singer Maki Otsuki. While performing the One Piece theme song at a music festival in Shanghai on 28 November, the power was suddenly cut and she was escorted off the stage by the staff. The abrupt incident left Otsuki visibly stunned on stage, and it was captured by the audience, prompting much sympathy online.
At a time when China-Japan relations are turbulent with both sides engaged in intense political manoeuvring, cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries would inevitably be affected.
Lack of respect and grace
Takaichi’s comments on the Taiwan issue — touching on potential military intervention in the mainland’s reunification efforts with Taiwan as well as the “undetermined status of Taiwan” — had crossed Beijing’s red lines and were bound to provoke strong countermeasures from Beijing.
In truth, many matters in international interactions can hardly be kept separate from politics. At a time when China-Japan relations are turbulent with both sides engaged in intense political manoeuvring, cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries would inevitably be affected.
However, when implementing countermeasures, should more nuanced approaches be considered? Cancelling a concert at the last minute, when the artiste is not even involved in the political controversy, shows disregard for commercial contracts. Rudely interrupting a performance and hastily removing a singer from stage mid-song smacks of a lack of basic respect for individuals and a lack of grace.
These overly simplistic and brash actions also incur costs. Take Hamasaki’s concert for instance: the Chinese organiser had made significant upfront investments and now faces substantial financial losses. The audience members are also collateral damage — especially those who travelled from other cities to Shanghai for the concert. Not only do they miss out on the event, they have also forked out money for travel and accommodation expenses.
... if the approach is too rigid and mechanical, it might provoke unnecessary controversy and backlash, in turn blemishing China’s image.
The host city loses the consumer spending that the concert would have brought about. This is the textbook definition of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. More crucially, while cancelling a performance could somewhat reinforce a strong diplomatic signal against Japan and demonstrate a firm resolve to counter Takaichi’s remarks, if the approach is too rigid and mechanical, it might provoke unnecessary controversy and backlash, in turn blemishing China’s image.
Maintaining moral high ground
A blanket “Japan restriction” may not have been the intention of the upper echelons, but rather a deviation in execution. Although several Japan-related performances were cancelled over the past week, the treatment of these events seemed to vary across different cities.
Japanese violinist Ayasa’s concert in Beijing went ahead as scheduled on 30 November — however, Ayasa’s performances in Chengdu and Shanghai were cancelled due to force majeure. This indicated that each city had different standards in execution. It is possible that some localities, in an effort to avoid risks and responsibilities, took it upon themselves to tighten measures excessively.
After BENI’s concert in Guangzhou went smoothly, a netizen remarked on Weibo: “The same type of artist and similar performance content, yet each faced completely different outcomes in two of China’s most important cities.”
To be able to clearly and firmly express a stance while maintaining an open, confident and mature image of a major power is a test of wisdom...
China-Japan relations are expected to continue deteriorating for some time, and China’s countermeasures against Japan are unlikely to stop at this point. These actions are about asserting core positions as well as defending principles and red lines. This is a common tactic in political disputes, but the manner in which it is executed and their effects should also be considered.
To be able to clearly and firmly express a stance while maintaining an open, confident and mature image of a major power is a test of wisdom — this would determine whether China can maintain its rightful moral high ground in this controversy.
This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “两场结局不同的演唱会”.
