Chou Tzu-yu

Chou Tzu-yu (born June 14, 1999), known mononymously as Tzuyu, is a

Chou Tzu-yu
Taiwanese singer based in South Korea and a member of the K-pop girl group
Twice, under JYP Entertainment.

In 2015, a televised appearance in South Korea in which she was shown holding the
flag of the Republic of China sparked controversy in China. A video of Tzuyu
apologizing for the incident, subsequently released by JYP Entertainment on January
15, 2016, sparked further outrage in Taiwan.

Contents
Early life
Career
Flag incident
Reaction
Effect on election
Effect on Huang An Tzuyu in July 2018
Effect on JYP Entertainment
Native name 周子瑜
Filmography
TV shows Born Chou Tzu-yu
References
June 14, 1999
East District,
External links
Tainan, Taiwan
Other names Tzuyu
Early life Occupation Singer

Chou Tzu-yu was born in Tainan, Taiwan, on June 14, 1999, to parents of self-made Musical career
entrepreneurs.[1] In 2012, she was discovered by talent scouts at the MUSE Genres K-pop · J-pop
Performing Arts Workshop in Tainan, and moved to South Korea on November 15 Instruments Vocals
that year to start her training.[2][3]
Years active 2015–present
In 2016, Tzuyu passed an exam at Tainan Municipal Fusing Junior High School to Labels JYP
certify her middle school education. She then attended high school at Hanlim Multi Entertainment
Art School in South Korea and graduated in February 2019.[4][5][6][7]
Associated acts Twice · JYP
Nation
Career
Chinese name
After more than two years of training, she appeared on the South Korean reality
Chinese 周子瑜
show Sixteen in 2015, during which she was chosen as one of the nine members of
the new girl band Twice. The group made its debut in October 2015. According to a Transcriptions
Gallup Korea survey, she was the third most popular idol among young South Standard Mandarin
Koreans in 2016, behindTaeyeon and IU.[8] Hanyu Pinyin Zhōu Zǐyú
Wade–Giles Chou¹ Tzŭ³-yü²
Flag incident Korean name
In November 2015, Tzuyu appeared with Twice on the Korean variety show My Hangul 저우쯔위
Little Television. She introduced herself as Taiwanese and held the flag of the Transcriptions
Republic of China alongside that of South Korea. TheJapanese flag was also shown,
[9]
Revised Romanization Jeou Jjeuwi
representing the nationality of some of the band's other members.
McCune–Reischauer Chŏu Tchŭwi
The Taiwanese-born, China-based singer Huang An took to his Sina Weibo account Signature
and accused her of being a Taiwanese independence activist.[10] Just days before
calling attention to Tzuyu, Huang had accused Hong Kong actor Wong He of
making insulting comments about mainland China on Facebook. Wong's face was
subsequently blurred out on China's state run China Central Television, and Wong
issued an apology.[11]

Mainland Chinese internet users reacted angrily towards Tzuyu's actions, accusing
her of "profiting from her mainland Chinese audience while holding a pro-independence stance".
Soon after, Twice was barred from Chinese television and Tzuyu was pulled out of her
endorsement with Chinese communications company Huawei. JYP Entertainment suspended all
her activities in China for the time.[12]

On January 15, 2016, the day before the Taiwanese general election, JYP Entertainment's founder
Park Jin-young apologised to the Chinese media through his Weibo account. Meanwhile, the
agency also released a video showing Tzuyu reading an apology
, which said in part:

“ There is only one China, the two sides of the strait are
one, and I have always felt proud to be Chinese. I feel
extremely apologetic to my company and to Internet
Tzuyu performing at
friends on both sides of the strait for the hurt that I have
caused, and I also feel very guilty.[13] ” Seoul Arts College in
February 2016

Reaction
With many alleging that it was made under duress, Chou's apology sparked a furore among the Taiwanese public on election day.[14]
The three candidates running for Taiwan's presidency all released statements to support her. The Democratic Progressive Party(DPP)
candidate Tsai Ing-wen stated that "a citizen of the Republic of China should not be punished for waving her flag and expressing
support for her country. [Chou Tzuyu] has been forced to say the exact opposite of what she originally meant, so this is a serious
matter and it has hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people." Meanwhile, the ruling party Kuomintang's candidate Eric Chu
disapproved of the hate directed at Chou, stating that he was saddened by the video, and condemned the actions of Huang An and
JYP Entertainment. Taiwan's outgoing president Ma Ying-jeou stated on the morning of election day that she had no need to
apologise.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated that it supported Chou's waving a Republic of China flag as a patriotic act. It
lodged a protest with the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), urging the Chinese government to "restrain its private sector",
which it said had "seriously hurt the feelings" of the Taiwanese people and might further damage Cross-Strait relations. It condemned
[15]
Huang An's move, and urged people on both sidesof the strait "to cherish the hard-earned friendly ties".

The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, published an article on its social media account saying that it
was unfair to label Chou a "Taiwanese separatist" for waving a flag of the Republic of China, adding that "The expression of the
' China' principle".[16]
Republic of China contains the one

JYP Entertainment said that, because Chou was under 18, the company had sought the consent of her parents before she made the
video apology.[16] They further stated, "An individual's belief is not something that a company can or should force upon another, and
this has never happened."[17]
Effect on election
The incident gained international attention as it was believed to have affected the 2016 Taiwanese general election, which Tsai Ing-
wen won by a wide margin. While Tsai and her pro-independence DPP were already leading the polls months before the
election,[13][18] a survey found that Chou's video apology affected the decision of about 1.34 million young voters, either by swaying
them to vote or change their votes.[19] Scholars believe that the incident probably contributed one or two percentage points to Tsai's
winning margin.[18] Tsai mentioned the incident in her victory speech, saying that it had "angered many Taiwanese people, regardless
of their political affiliation" and would "serve as a constant reminder [to her] about the importance of [Taiwan]'s strength and unity to
those outside our borders."[18][20]

Effect on Huang An
Chou's apology video prompted Taiwanese backlash against instigator Huang An. Among other responses by Taiwanese media, a
popular Taiwanese television program cancelled Huang's upcoming appearance, while a karaoke chain permanently removed his
discography from its playlists.[21] Over 10,000 angered Taiwanese citizens pledged to attend a street rally in criticism of Huang on
January 24, 2016.[22] However, the rally was cancelled to prevent the event from being politically exploited or negatively impacting
Chou.[23]

Taiwanese human rights lawyer George Wang (王可富) filed lawsuits with the Taipei District Prosecutors Office against Huang An
and JYPE following the apology video's release. Wang cited that Huang's actions likely violated the Criminal Code and that
combined psychological pressure from Huang and the agency impeded Chou's autonomy and impelled her to do something she was
not required to do.[20][24]

Huang announced on his Weibo account that he would hold a press conference on February 3, 2016, in Taiwan to discuss his side of
the story, claiming that he was not the wrongdoer and crediting himself with the incident's impact on the Taiwanese election.[21][25]
eibo account, amounting to roughly4,900 messages and photos.[23]
Shortly after, Huang wiped all self-generated posts from his W

Effect on JYP Entertainment

On the Monday after the video's release, JYP Entertainment shares on the KOSDAQ fell from a 52-week high of KR₩6,300+ to
₩4,000, ultimately closing at₩4,300.[26]

In addition to George Wang's lawsuit, the Center for Multicultural Korea also questioned the company's ethics. The Center will
conduct an investigation to determine if Chou's apology was coerced or voluntary and plans to sue Park Jin-young and JYP
[27]
Entertainment for racial discrimination and human rights violation if the action is found to have been forced.

The day after Chou's apology, anonymous hackers executed what appeared to be a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the
JYP Entertainment site.[28] JYP Entertainment stated that while the identity and origin of the hackers would be almost impossible to
[29] Korean media outlets contend
trace, they suspected a strong connection between the attack and the controversy surrounding Chou.
cial media.[27]
that a certain Taiwanese hacking group implemented the attack after the group claimed credit on so

In response to criticism, JYP Entertainment announced that it would be adopting new procedures concerning its exports and overseas
activities in order to protect employees from future controversies. This included the implementation of cultural sensitivity training for
its artists and staff members. In an interview with The Korea Times, a JYP representative stated that the training would include issues
pertaining to political conflicts between countries.[30]

Filmography

TV shows
 Year Title Role Network Note
2015 Sixteen Contestant Mnet Survival show that determined Twice members

References
1. "周子瑜家境優渥 父母擁3間醫美診所" (https://tw.appledaily.com/new/realtime/20160116/776273/). Apple Daily (in
Chinese). Retrieved February 12, 2019.
2. Gloria Chan (16 January 2016)."Who is the 16-year-old girl at the centre of a political storm ahead ofaiwan's
T
presidential poll?" (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1901802/who-16-year-old-girl-centre-poli
tical-storm-ahead). South China Morning Post.
3. "[네이버 연예] 아이엠그라운드, 트와이스 소개 하기!" (http://entertain.naver.com/ranking/read?oid=420&aid=0000002
610). Naver (in Korean). Naver Corp. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
4. "周子瑜返台考試 陸網友也關心" (http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20160321000729-260309). China Times
(in Chinese). China Times Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
5. "Girl group TWICE's Tzuyu passes exam to qualify middle school education"
(http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/
2016/03/31/62/0200000000AEN20160331007400315F .html). Yonhap News. Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved
September 4, 2016.
6. Yi, Sohui (April 13, 2016)."JYP 측 "쯔위 한림예고 합격, 등교 시기 논의 중" " (http://news.newsway.co.kr/view.php?tp
=1&ud=2016041216483010554&md=20160413111310_AO) . News Way (in Korean). News Way Corp. Retrieved
April 18, 2016.
7. "트와이스 쯔위 채영, 졸업 꽃다발 안고 환한 미소 "활동 더 집중할 것" " (http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=081&aid
=0002976256). Naver (in Korean). Seoul Newspaper. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
8. "한국갤럽 Gallup Report 2016/12/20n"(https://panel.gallup.co.kr/Contents/GallupReport/%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%A
D%EA%B0%A4%EB%9F%BDGallupReport(20161220)_%EA%B0%80%EC%88%98%EC%99%80%EA%B0%80%
EC%9A%94.pdf) (PDF). Gallup Korea (in Korean). Gallup Korea Co. Ltd. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
9. Politi, Daniel (16 Jan 2016)."Did a 16-Year-Old Pop Star Help Pro-Independence Party Win Taiwan's Election?" (htt
p://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/01/16/pop_star_may_have_helped_pro_independence_party_win_taiwan
_presidency.html). Slate. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
10. Chung, Jake (15 Jan 2016)."Chou Tzu-yu deal in jeopardy after Huang An tip-of
f" (http://www.taipeitimes.com/New
s/front/archives/2016/01/15/2003637244). Taipei Times. p. 1.
11. "Hong Kong star's face blurred out on Chinese state TV show after he shared news report suggesting former premier
Zhou Enlai was gay" (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1899866/hong-kong-stars-face-blurred-out-chi
nese-state-tv-show-after-he). South China Morning Post.
12. "Taiwanese K-pop singer Chou Tzu-yu miredin flag row" (http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/taiwanese-k-po
p-singer-chou-tzu-yu-mired-in-flag-row). The Straits Times.
13. Buckley, Chris; Ramy, Austin (17 January 2016)."Singer's Apology for Waving Taiwan Flag Stirs Backlash of Its
Own" (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/world/asia/taiwan-china-singer-chou-tzu-yu.html). The New York Times.
14. Li Xueying (16 January 2016)."Video of K-pop singer Chou Tzu-yu apologising for waving flag angers Taiwanese on
polling day" (http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/k-pop-singer-apologises-in-video-for-holding-up-taiwan-flag-i
nfuriating-taiwanese-on). The Straits Times.
15. C.C. Zai; Flor Wang (16 January 2016)."MAC asks China to rein in private sector in wake of flag controversy"(http://
focustaiwan.tw/news/acs/201601160010.aspx) . Focus Taiwan.
16. Jun Mai (18 January 2016)." 'Separatist' label 'unfair for Taiwan's teen pop star Chou Tzu-yu: Chinese state media"
(http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1902690/separatist-label-unfair-taiwans-teen-pop-star-chou
-tzu). South China Morning Post.
17. Cheng, Jonathan; Lee, Min-sun; Dou, Eva."Ripples From Flag-Waving Brouhaha Continue to Spread" (https://www.
wsj.com/articles/ripples-from-flag-waving-brouhaha-continue-to-spread-1453207828)
. The Wall Street Journal. Dow
Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
18. "Taiwan election: How a penitent pop star may have helped Tsai win" (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-353405
30). BBC. 18 January 2016.
19. Minnie Chan (17 January 2016)."Teen pop star Chou Tzu-yu's apology for waving Taiwan flag swayed young voters
for DPP" (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1902195/teen-pop-star-chou-tzu-yus-apology-wav
ing-taiwan-flag). South China Morning Post.
20. Chen, Christie (18 January 2016)."Timeline of the Chou Tzu-yu flag controversy" (http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/2
01601180026.aspx). Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency.
21. Horwitz, Josh. "Why a washed-up pop star is suddenly the most hated man in aiwan"
T (http://qz.com/597272/why-a-
washed-up-pop-star-is-suddenly-the-most-hated-man-in-taiwan/)
. Quartz. Atlantic Media Co. Retrieved 22 January
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22. "Politicians Weigh into Taiwan Teen Starlet Controversy" (http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/01/18/20
16011801725.html). The Chosun-Ilbo. 18 January 2016.
23. "China-based Taiwanese singer deletes online messages after flag row"(http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/201
6/01/20/0200000000AEN20160120008500315.html) . Yonhap News Agency. 20 January 2016.
24. Hsieh, Nine (20 January 2016)."JYP Entertainment and Huang An face lawsuit over teen pop star spat"
(http://www.
chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2016/01/20/456559/JYP-Entertainment.htm)
. China Post.
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03637552). Taipei Times. 19 January 2016.
26. Park, Hyong-ki; Lee, Joel (18 January 2016)."[Newsmaker] JYP in tight spot over Tzuyu furor"(http://www.koreaher
ald.com/view.php?ud=20160118000974). The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
27. Sung, So-young (19 January 2016)."Criticism narrows in on JYP, Park" (http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/ar
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w/news/culture/2016/01/201_195810.html). The Korea Times. The Korea Times. Retrieved 28 January 2016.

External links
Media related to Chou Tzu-yu at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chou_Tzu-yu&oldid=889851245

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