Jackson Wang, a member of popular South Korean K-pop boy band GOT7, has found himself in hot water after publishing a post on his Weibo account (Chinese analogue of Facebook) supporting the one-China policy amid mass protests in Hong Kong.
The artist, better known to the public simply as Jackson, who was born in Hong Kong and proudly calls himself a Hong Kong boy, immediately came under fire from critics. Social media users poured out their anger on Twitter, calling the rapper and dancer a traitor.
The situation worsened after a concert in South America, where Jackson was seen holding Chinese flag.
Some of fans, however, took a defensive position, saying all flags were represented at the concert.
Ahgase (official name of GOT7 fandom) started to publish posts on Twitter tagged as #WeLoveYouJackson in defence of the singer.
This controversy was followed by news that GOT7's concerts in Hong Kong were postponed. "This is an announcement that GOT7’s 2019 World Tour 'Keep Spinning' in Hong Kong, which was scheduled for August 31 (Saturday) and September 1 (Sunday) of 2019, will be postponed due to safety reasons of the local situation", the group label JYP Entertainment announced.
Mass protests erupted in China's semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong in early June in response to a controversial bill that would allow extraditions to the mainland. Although the local parliament eventually announced that it had suspended the bill, people are continuing to protest, demanding that it be withdrawn completely. They also want the city authorities to implement universal suffrage and retract criminal charges against protesters.
The demonstrations have on numerous occasions resulted in violent clashes between protesters and the police. China's permanent mission to the United Nations earlier even accused the protesters of having displayed a "tendency of resorting to terrorism" by destroying public facilities, paralysing Hong Kong's airport, blocking public transport and using lethal weapons.
Hong Kong became a part of China in 1997 after being a British colony for some 150 years.