Janine Chang Enters Danger Zone of Being Blacklisted in China
China’s entertainment industry has been going through an overhaul, and regulatory bodies are busy “cancelling” celebrities whom they feel are not good role models for society or embody sentiment unsupported by authorities. Taiwanese actress, Janine Chang (張鈞甯), is said to be on the cusp of being blacklisted in China, due to her suspected pro-Taiwan independence.
Netizens Dig Up “Evidence” of Janine’s Pro-Independence Beliefs
For her Master’s degree in Industrial Economics at Taiwan’s National Central University, the actress had titled her thesis, “The Financial Management and Legal Problems of My Country’s Artistes,” which seemed to refer to Taiwan as its own independent country which has always been a sensitive topic in China. Although Janine had written her thesis paper in 2010, Chinese netizens dug up the issue due to the recent rise of nationalism.
In one of Janine’s earlier interviews, she had also shared with a Taiwanese director that she wants to stay in Taiwan to film, and hopes that she will have more opportunities to do so.
Netizens took this to mean that Janine supports Taiwan’s independence and does not view herself as Chinese, despite the actress generating a majority of her income from the Chinese market.
Janine’s Name Removed from Upcoming Projects
Since the controversy surfaced, Janine’s name has since disappeared from the cast list in The Psychologist <女心理師>, which stars Yang Zi (楊紫) and Boran Jing (井柏然). The Chinese drama was originally slated to air in October/ November, but is likely to be delayed now the crew is scrambling to minimize the negative publicity.
A netizen exposed that Chinese authorities also ordered Janine’s screen time, which spans six episodes, to be deleted in The Psychologist. As well, the drama’s official social media account has erased posts related to Janine.
With three of Janine’s movies awaiting release, including Eight-Year-Old Father <八歲的爸爸>, Love After Love <第一爐香>, 749 Bureau <749局>, the film production companies are likely to cut ties with the actress. Her controversy may even cause these movies to be unable to be released.
Janine Responds to Controversy
As the controversy escalated, the actress’ studio issued an official statement, “Ms. Janine Chang is not a fighter for Taiwanese independence. She has always firmly believed that she is Chinese, and will not allow any people to take advantage of her and create conflict!”
On September 6, Janine finally spoke out, posting on her Weibo. “In my acting career, I have encountered many teachers and colleagues that I respect. I am passionate about acting and view this as my career. People from both Taiwan and China belong to Chinese ethnicity. I am not fighting for the independence of Taiwan– 5,000 years of Chinese civilization have allowed us to learn what it means to live as upstanding citizens.”
Despite Janine’s clarification, Chinese netizens are not convinced and the damage on her career may already be done. The actress continued her scheduled work activities in China, and was spotted at the airport on September 7 looking more tired than usual.
This article was revised on September 8, 2021 to more accurately reflect Janine’s quote that “People from both Taiwan and China belong to Chinese ethnicity.”
Sources: World Journal, Yahoo
This article is written by Kiki for Jaynestars.com.
Hahahahha this is getting out of control. Might as well cancel the whole industry and everyone lol
Chinese e-biz witchhunt.
Janine is one of the most hard working actress I know. She has taken up many good roles…leads and support characters. I hope she is not cancelled for these reasons.
regulators need to ban extremist c-nets
First it was Xiao S, then Jolin Tsai and now Janine. I wonder who is next?
She posted on September 6, not August 6, and the translation here is a bit off. She did not say that “People from Taiwan and Hong Kong all belong to the Chinese nation”. She said “Chinese from both shores (meaning Mainland and Taiwan) are all part of the Chinese race”.
Anyway some people are speculating that all these recent spate of events are all targeted at Yang Zi, since Janine stars in her upcoming drama, plus the recent postponement of ‘The Oath of Love’. And I have seen people saying they were done by KW’s fans since they have been hating YZ since their collaboration in ‘The Golden Hairpin’ days. Sounds a bit far-fetched to me, but just wondering if it is true haha…
Anyway the scope of this cancel thing is really getting more and more widespread. Maybe in the end we will only be left with C-dramas acted by ahjummas and ahjussis.
@prettysup1 Funny you mentioned that…I noticed the connections too…
Just because I like to work and live in some countries does not equate to I want that country to be independent >_> this is a case of using the situation and spin it to cancel people out as they can and because they are all a bunch of coward keyboard warrior >_>
So is this just netizen’s speculation or has anyone officially said anything about banning Janine? If not then I won’t worry about it. Janine is hugely popular and has a strong and well behaved Chinese fan base who don’t cause trouble. As far as I heard, she hasn’t said anything pro Taiwan independence.
I like her and I hope this is a only a rumor. Here is more news about the Chinese Entertainment:
“China’s Weibo Suspends BTS, Blackpink and Other K-Pop Fan Accounts”
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/china-weibo-suspends-bts-blackpink-035913876.html
F China/Big 6/CCP/PRC….they’re the ones that should be banned sheesh.
This was propagated by DDP’s 1450 to stir up hatred anyway. I mean how can mainland Chinese cnets get access to her thesis from years ago in Taiwan? Thanks to DDP’s anti-China stance, reunification is in full gear.