South Korea’s famous K-pop girl group BLACKPINK was under controversy in China after calling the Chinese fans Macanese.
The group called fans from China’s Macau SAR Macanese, and an uproar on Chinese social media Weibo criticized the group for their insensitivity.
When the group thanked the fans as they labeled them as Macanese, a huge backlash from the netizens sparked in their two-day concert.
As the K-pop group tried to give a positive message of gratitude towards the fans that came to watch them on the “Born Pink” world tour, the backlash started to drive in as they described the fans as Macanese.
Some people said that describing people from Macau as Macanese is insensitive because it refers to people of Portuguese descent born and raised in Macau, as it does not directly represent the general people of Macau.
Netizens believed that BLACKPINK intentionally avoided using “Chinese” and did not add it in Macau. Their behavior of not including Macau as part of China was deemed disrespectful toward the country and the fans.
Some netizens, however, did not seem to be offended by the word “Macanese” as Western media has been using the word quite often. In Chinese media, they refer to the people of Macau as “Macau residents” and “Macau people.”
Some fans also defended the K-pop group saying that it is a common practice to greet fans of a specific city, and people are overreacting over a misunderstanding between languages.
BLACKPINK and YG Entertainment, the idol group’s label, have not released any statements regarding the controversy. However, their social media post was edited, changing the word “Macanese” to Macu. – WhatALife!/Zain
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