Previously, Henry Sparked Controversy After Expressing His Support For China. In 2018, Amid The Dispute Over The South China Sea, He Publicly Supported The ‘One China’ Ideology.
On June 3rd, Henry Lau returned to being active in the Korean entertainment industry by attending the JTBC entertainment program ” FLY to the Dance “, which brought dancers to the US, home to street dances, to do busking shows. However, he received a strong response from netizens after his explanation of the past controversy.
Previously, Henry sparked controversy after expressing his support for China. In 2018, in the midst of a dispute over the South China Sea area, the singer publicly supported the “One China” ideology by posting a “One China” map on the social media platform Weibo, as well as wearing a mask resembling the Chinese flag with the words “I love China” printed on it. on it. Here, “One China” basically means that there is only one legitimate government of China, and that Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are all inseparable from mainland China.
Around the same time, the program ” Street Dance of China 4 ” introduced Korean hanbok and traditional Arirang songs as “Chinese folk music and costumes”. This caused a wave of criticism from the Korean side.
When asked about the controversy, Henry said, “The past few months have been the most difficult of my life. I get very angry when I hear swear words and obscenities. bad to say to my family. I’m sad.”
The singer also added, “I think it is a blessing to be born into this world. That’s why I will love everyone in the world. I am a person who wants to give good energy to many people regardless of nationality or gender through stage and music. I hope you’ll see beyond nationalism and politics. So I want you to stop now.”
However, netizens’ reactions to Henry’s appearance and words were quite scathing. In the first place, Henry was criticized for “acting like a victim” by emphasizing the pain he was in, while ignoring those hurt by his controversy.
Besides, Henry asked people to look behind the politics, but it was he who stirred up the political problems. There has also been criticism that he gives off too much negative energy through his controversial actions to be called “someone who tries to give off good energy”, and that by supporting “One China”, he is far from “loving everyone.”
Since Henry failed to show his understanding and respect for other cultures and seemed to only care about China, netizens said the singer should return to China to work and stay away from Korea.
By this point, criticism had spread to the production team for including Henry in the program, and people expressed confusion about how controversial figures like Henry were invited to the show. The program was supposed to be about Korean dancers traveling overseas to promote dance, they said, and Henry was far from such a description.