Fury after China’s anti-Taiwan propaganda song about Beijing train link goes viral
‘This says a lot about how much in their hearts they yearn for the free and democratic lifestyle’
ALONGSIDE aggressive displays of military might, China is also adopting a more subtle tactic to push its territorial claims to Taiwan – a propaganda song about a bullet train linking Beijing and Taipei.
According to Chinese state media, the snappily named new hit Let’s Take a Bullet Train and Go to Taiwan in 2035 has gone viral, delighting the public by representing their “keen wishes” to see the island democracy joined with the mainland. The video for the song shows a train speeding towards Taipei 101, Taiwan’s most distinctive skyscraper, and a young holidaymaker in a flowery dress and straw hat exploring the beach.
The song may be jaunty and lighthearted, but as Beijing makes its desire to annex the independent territory – which China has never ruled – with increasing force, the dark political undertones are clear. The Taiwanese should keep “defending their minds” from such propaganda, warned Su Tseng-chang, Taiwan’s premier, when questioned about it in parliament.
A potential train link between China and the island of 23.5 million via an undersea tunnel through the Taiwan Strait has been proposed by Beijing under a massive national infrastructure plan due to be completed by 2035, but has not been accepted by Taipei. Lyrics include “Let’s go to Taiwan in 2035 to see Grandma’s Penghu Bay”, a reference to a popular tourist destination in the Strait. Others speak of Taiwanese coming to Beijing to “see the red flags making the mountain red and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese dream”.
“This says a lot about how much in their hearts they yearn for the free and democratic lifestyle,” said a Taiwanese social media user.
But Beijing officials said it reflected genuine sentiments in China.
“The song reflects the good wishes of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to realise the vision of the highspeed railway from Fujian to Taipei,” they said. It’s an emotive pop culture tactic that has been deployed before.
In the early 1990s, Ai Jing, a mainland Chinese folk singer, released My 1997, which became a national sensation as the stage was set for Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule that year. “1997, please come soon, then I can go to Hong Kong,” ran the lyrics, which the singer claimed were part of a love song about a Chinese girl longing for her Hongkonger boyfriend.