u was discovered by talent scouts at the MUSE Performing Arts Workshop in Tainan, and moved to

South Korea in November of that year to start her training.[6][8] In 2016, Tzuyu passed an exam at
Tainan Municipal Fusing Junior High School to certify her middle school education. She attended high
school at Hanlim Multi Art School in South Korea and graduated in February 2019.[9][10][11][12][13] In
2015, Tzuyu participated in the South Korean reality television show Sixteen, hosted by JYP
Entertainment and co-produced by Mnet.[2][14] As one of nine successful participants, she went on to
join the newly formed girl group Twice.[2] Unlike the other winners of Sixteen, Tzuyu was selected
based on audience voting.[2][3][7]

Career with Twice

Main article: Twice

In October 2015, Tzuyu officially debuted as a member of Twice with their first extended play, The Story
Begins.[15] The lead single "Like Ooh-Ahh" was the first K-pop debut song to reach 100 million views on
YouTube.[16] Since her debut she has also been featured in advertisements and worked as a presenter
for multiple music television shows.[7]

Recognition

According to Gallup Korea's annual music survey, Tzuyu was the third most popular idol among South
Koreans in 2016.[17] She ranked ninth in the 2017 survey[18] and twelfth in 2018.[19] In 2019, Tzuyu
was ranked as the second most popular female K-pop idol in a survey of soldiers doing mandatory
military service in South Korea.[20] Tzuyu has received positive coverage for her beauty.[2][7][21][22] In
2019, Tzuyu was ranked as having the most beautiful face in the world by TC Candler, a group which has
conducted such a ranking since 1990.[23][24]

Flag incident

Tzuyu in October 2015

In November 2015, Tzuyu appeared with Twice on the Korean variety show My Little Television. She
introduced herself as Taiwanese and held the flag of Republic of China (Taiwan) alongside that of South
Korea. The flag of Japan was also shown, representing the nationality of the girl group's three other
members, Momo, Sana and Mina.[25]

The Taiwanese-born, China-based singer Huang An took to his Sina Weibo account and accused her of
being a Taiwanese independence activist.[26] 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.[27]

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".[28] Soon after, Twice was
barred from Chinese television[29] and Tzuyu was pulled out of her endorsement with Chinese
communications company Huawei. JYP Entertainment suspended all her activities in China for the time.
[30]
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.[31] 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 friends on both sides of the strait for the hurt
that I have caused, and I also feel very guilty.[32]

Reaction

With many alleging that it was made under duress, Tzuyu's apology sparked a furore among the
Taiwanese public on election day.[33][34] The three candidates running for Taiwan's presidency all
released statements to support her.[35] 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 Tzuyu, stating that he
was saddened by the video, and condemned the actions of Huang An and JYP Entertainment.[36]
Taiwan's outgoing president Ma Ying-jeou stated on the morning of election day that she had no need to
apologise.[37]

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated that it supported Tzuyu'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 Huang An's move, and
urged people on both sides of the strait "to cherish the hard-earned friendly ties".[38]

The People's Daily, the newspaper of the Communist Party of China, published an article on its social
media account saying that it was unfair to label Tzuyu a "Taiwanese separatist" for waving a flag of the
Republic of China, adding that "The expression of the Republic of China contains the 'one China'
principle".[39]

JYP Entertainment said that, because Tzuyu was under 18, the company had sought the consent of her
parents before she made the video apology.[39] They further stated, "An individual's belief is not
something that a company can or should force upon another, and this has never hap