TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese social media outlet Sina Weibo blocked the accounts of Malaysian rapper Namewee (黄明志) and Taiwan-based Australian singer Kimberley Chen (陳芳語) after they released a duet satirizing the country’s communist regime, reports said Saturday (Oct. 16).
The Mandarin-language song, called “Fragile,” or literally “Heart of Glass” (玻璃心) in Chinese, is a romantic love song on the surface, but contains numerous stabs at Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平).
The song, written by Namewee, includes references to Chinese netizens being easily offended, and to Xi’s repression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The YouTube video, directed by Namewee, is dominated by the color pink, CNA reported, and opens with the warning, “Please be cautious if you are fragile pink.”
While a panda figure dances and works in the background, the two singers make references to various subjects tied to China. They mention the love for “dogs, cats, bats, and civets” in an apparent allusion to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s illegal to breach the firewall, you’ll be missed if the Pooh discovers it,” they sing, hitting out at censorship and alluding to comparisons between Xi’s look and the character Winnie the Pooh, which led to images of the latter being banned in China. The song also features the term “common prosperity,” the theme of Xi’s most recent political campaign.
The video was launched on YouTube on Friday (Oct. 15), and by 6 p.m. Saturday, it had recorded more than 1 million views.