The escalating tensions between China and Japan, sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s comments on a possible “intervention in a Taiwan contingency,” are now spilling over into the K-pop industry.
Reports indicate that the Chinese government is taking a strict “Korean-Japanese ban” approach, affecting K-pop groups differently depending on their members’ nationalities: groups with Japanese members are facing setbacks in China, while groups with Chinese members are encountering difficulties in Japan.
Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily and China News Service reported on November 19th that Chinese music streaming platform QQ Music has canceled a fan meeting in Guangzhou for the Japanese boy group JO1, which was scheduled for November 28th. All events, including VIP-only gatherings, have also been suspended. Industry observers view this as an extension of sanctions against Japan.
JO1 is an 11-member boy group that debuted in 2019 through the Mnet survival program Produce 101 Japan. Managed by Lapone Entertainment, a South Korea-Japan joint venture between CJ ENM and Yoshimoto Kogyo, the group consists entirely of Japanese members.
In Japan, girl group aespa, which includes Chinese member Ningning, is feeling the impact as well. aespa was set to appear on NHK’s year-end special Kōhaku Uta Gassen next month, but a petition calling for their removal was launched on Change.org on November 17th and has already gathered more than 70,000 signatures.
Back in 2022, Ningning faced backlash in Japan after posting a picture of a lighting sculpture on Bubble that resembled a “mushroom cloud,” the iconic symbol of an atomic bomb explosion. The petitioners argue, “Kōhaku Uta Gassen is a major official event in Japan. Tolerating words or actions that show a lack of historical awareness would not only harm Japan’s international image but also wound the victims of the Hiroshima atomic bombing.”
With aespa’s solo concerts planned next April at Tokyo Dome and Kyocera Dome Osaka, all eyes are now on NHK’s response to the petition.
Sing Tao Daily noted that “aespa has emerged as the biggest casualty of the recent diplomatic tensions between China and Japan,” adding that whether the group is allowed to perform could serve as a measure of the current level of tension between the two countries.
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