- Music
- 22 Jul 15
Tiananmen Square links could prove problematic for pop princess
Taylor Swift has said 'nǐ hǎo' to Chinese fans with a video plugging her merchandise, which is now available in the country.
She may, however, be about to say 'zài jiàn' just as quickly.
The range of goodies offered by the pop starlet includes a raft of items emblazoned with her initials, TS, as well as branding of her monstrous smash-hit album 1989.
In China, TS 1989 means something very different indeed.
The massacre at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 is one of China's darkest - and most heavily censored - days; hundreds of students were killed when involved in pro-democracy protests. The level of censorship stretches as far as blacklisting the consecutive use of the numbers 6, 4 and 1989 on Chinese social media sites. Many use 'May 35' as code to avoid censors' attentions.
Therefore, the authorities could have something to say about T-Swift's range; a TS 1989 bracelet may not be too popular with the Beijing powers that be...