Jolin Tsai Responds To COVID-19 Song Criticism

Jolin Tsai - youtube screengrab

A leading Taiwanese singer has responded to online claims that a song she released earlier this month was little more than Chinese propaganda.

Jolin Tsai, 39, and from New Taipei City, along with Canton-pop singer Eason Chan from Hong Kong saw a torrent of abuse pour in after their April 3rd release of “Fight as One” – an English language song that was intended to show appreciation for those on the front lines fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The song was produced by China’s Yunnan Media Group after the singers recorded their own parts in different studios according to online reports.

At time of typing, the video has been viewed over 935,000 times on youtube, but has been ‘disliked’ over 85,000 times compared to 20,000 people who have given it a ‘like’.

Tsai had initially been silent and had not responded to the online abuse received, but reappeared on social media on Wednesday posting a message on her Instagram account saying “I will be back soon”. She also posted several images of herself.

The video can be viewed here: Jolin Tsai / Eason Chan

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.