The Chinese media outlets seem to have deleted the articles criticizing BTS. This is after the growing tensions between some Chinese citizens and the BTS camp caused by RM’s speech.
The Chinese news media, Global Times who have previously reported that the Chinese netizens were angry over BTS’s speech about the Korean War, has deleted the article.
The diminishing hates
Per Allkpop, when the word “BTS” is searched on Baidu and links it to the Global Times official website, only the article’s title can be seen.
When the report is clicked on, a 404 message pops up. It says that the content is inaccessible, and “Sorry, there are many users.”
Furthermore, there are no more new negative postings or malicious comments regarding BTS on social media, including Weibo, except for the existing posts.
Voluntary efforts and reignition
The Chinese authorities are believed to have dealt with the concerns over international criticism. With the recent tirades, many have also criticized that the Chinese netizens are overreacting.
On October 14, the Global Times released an article with the provoking title, “BTS did not do anything wrong; they don’t need Chinese fans.”
With the headline, the Global Times seems to rekindle the feud between the two parties once again.
This is in the middle of the Chinese authorities attempting to settle the matter. This issue is regarding the netizen’s opposition to BTS’s acceptance speech at the Van Fleet Award.
The said news outlet also published an article covering the Korean netizens’ reaction. Also, it reported how the Korean media mainly reported the adverse response to Chinese netizens’ opposition to BTS’s remark.
The report on Global Times stated that the Korean netizens see the reaction of Chinese netizens as a “Chauvinism” (Aggressive Patriotism).
Rekindling sentiments
As reported by the Global Times, major Korean media outlets had published articles with titles stating, “China’s media incite public opinion” and “China is overreacting.”
The article also mentioned that the Korean netizens have commented that BTS did nothing wrong. And that again, they don’t need Chinese fans.
The news outlet revealed that a Korean securities company researcher stated that BTS is not dependent on the Chinese market.
Since BTS are global stars, the growing tension does not significantly impact Big Hit Entertainment’s IPO.
With this, the Global Times appears to attempt to stimulate the Chinese netizens’ nationalist sentiment and patriotism by reporting the Korean netizens’ reactions.
Image courtesy of Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock