Well-known host Tsai Kang-yong appeared yesterday at the inauguration meeting of Democratic Progressive Party Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang's campaign headquarters. In addition to the Chinese partner company "Leap Auto" quickly issued a statement, the well-known Chinese fashion magazine "Harper's Bazaar" also urgently deleted the interview in September. Scholars criticized that China wants to establish political boundaries and let Taiwanese society know which politicians it interacts with, and there will be a price to pay.
Shen Boyang was classified as a "Taiwan independence die-hard" by the Chinese Communist Party, and China's Taiwan Affairs Office threatened to hold him accountable for life in accordance with the law for many years. On the 4th, Cai Kangyong attended Shen Boyang's campaign for the presidential election. The live broadcast captured him holding a support balloon with "Taipei Get Up" printed on it and waving cheering sticks with the supporters at the scene, which aroused great concern among netizens.
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The title "Tsai Kang-yong appeared at the Taiwan independence campaign site" became the most searched on China's Weibo entertainment list yesterday, and the contents of Tsai Kang-yong's Weibo account, which has 36 million fans, was wiped out overnight. In addition, "Harper's Bazaar" magazine urgently deleted the interview content in September. Currently, the official Weibo has found no relevant content about Cai Kangyong.
In this regard, Hong Puzhao, deputy CEO of the Land Research Center of Tunghai University, said in an interview today that Tsai Kang-yong’s incident allows us to see more clearly how China affects the political choices of Taiwanese artists through the market. China has labeled Shen Boyang a "Taiwan independence die-hard" and now even publicly participating in his election campaign will make artists bear the commercial costs of the Chinese market.
Hong Puzhao pointed out that from political labels, online public opinions to corporate actions, the market has formed political pressure. China does not need the government to take direct action every time. Companies will know where the political red lines are and will naturally take hedging actions.
Hong Puzhao analyzed that this also has the effect of a warning. By exerting pressure on Tsai Kangyong, it warns all artists, companies and individuals who maintain contact with the DPP government, the DPP and specific political figures that China has expressed its intention to sanction. If China wants to establish political boundaries and let Taiwanese society know which politicians it interacts with, it will have to pay a price.
Hong Puzhao further said that looking back at the collective statements of Taiwanese artists at important political nodes in China, there is also political pressure from the Chinese market behind them. Taiwanese artists congratulated China on National Day and can continue to enjoy the economic benefits of the Chinese market; Tsai Kang-yong participated in Taiwan's election campaign, but the cooperative relationship was quickly severed. The Chinese market has never been a purely commercial market that has nothing to do with politics.
Hong Pu-chao said that once China's market pressure enters Taiwan's elections, it will affect Taiwan's democratic independence. China does not need to decide who Taiwanese people vote for. It can create pressure on Taiwan's political participation by making it more expensive to support specific parties and politicians.
Hong Pu-chao criticized that when China uses its huge market to make Taiwanese people calculate whether they will lose their jobs, endorsements and business interests before participating in their own elections, it is extending China's political red lines into Taiwan's democratic politics. China can draw red lines in its own market, but it does not have the power to draw this red line into Taiwan's democratic politics. Whoever the Taiwanese people support or interact with does not require China's consent.
