K-pop band’s Chinese singer abused for not kneeling
A Chinese member of K-pop group Everglow has been subject to racist attacks and criticism online after using traditional Chinese etiquette when greeting fans instead of kneeling down like her Korean bandmates.
Singer Wang Yiren was with other members of Everglow at an event on January 2 to greet fans in Seoul. While they knelt and touched the floor with their foreheads in Korean style, Wang used a Chinese hand gesture – the fist and palm salute – to express thanks and new year greetings.
In Chinese culture kneeling is seen as servile and no longer considered appropriate. In South Korea, it remains in use as a way to greet others and offer thanks.
While Wang’s gesture was widely praised in China, South Koreans quickly attacked the move online.
Comments like “Go back to China” and “Don’t earn money in Korea” were common.
“All this shows that the Chinese are arrogant and have no respect or consideration for other cultures,” wrote one commenter on K-pop news site allkpop.
“Stop making Korean money and go back to your country then,” wrote another.
However, Chinese fans praised her stance and defended the singer online, with the hashtag
“Wang Yiren, Chinese people don’t kneel” trending after a photo of the event was posted on Everglow’s Weibo account.
“Chinese people don’t kneel down,” one commenter wrote on Weibo. Another user said: “I’m proud of this idol who keeps Chinese traditions.”
Some pointed out how cultural differences between the two countries put artists like Wang in an impossible situation.
“If you kneel, you will be scolded by Chinese netizens, and if you don’t kneel, you will be scolded by Korean netizens. It’s really hard to be an artist!” one user said.
Neither Wang nor Everglow’s South Korean management company Yue Hua Entertainment has commented. But on Monday Yue Hua Entertainment issued a statement telling fans that Wang would be returning to China next month to see family and study.
“Yiren has to go back to China from mid-January till the end of February due to her academic status, so she will be taking a break there for a while to spend time with her family, whom she hasn’t seen in a long time because of Covid-19,” the company said.
“Everglow will continue their domestic activities with five members, and carry out their schedule as planned.”
Cultural differences have been a source of tension between the countries in the past; in January last year, Chinese influencer Li
Ziqi caused controversy when she promoted a recipe for “traditional Chinese pickles” many in South Korea claimed was a traditional Korean dish and accused her of cultural appropriation and theft.
The influencer demonstrated the recipe in a video in which she pickled vegetables, using a method similar to that used for kimchi, and added the hashtags #ChineseCuisine and #ChineseFood.
These tensions have escalated in recent years, with actions like Wang’s previously not being seen as controversial in South Korea.
In 2018, two Chinese members of K-pop group Seventeen were told when attending a South Korean talent variety show that they did not need to kneel down while other Korean members performed the traditional new year’s greeting.
The sought comment
Post from Wang and Yue Hua Entertainment but had not received a reply by last night.