'Liberal' Taylor Swift to Perform in China at Event Linked to Communist Party
Singer will be performing to a backdrop of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong
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"Liberal" popstar Taylor Swift is to perform in China at an event with links to the ruling Communist Party amid violent pro-democracy protests against the Chinese-controlled government in Hong Kong.
Singer Swift will be performing at the main promotional gig for Singles’ Day - the country’s biggest shopping day, similar to the West's Black Friday.
The event is hosted by China's equivalent to Amazon; Alibaba - the country's largest retailer that works closely with the Chinese government.
American superstar Swift will be cozying up to some of China’s biggest power players by agreeing to perform at the annual live concert in Shanghai on November 10.
Alibaba's Singles’ Day show typically draws international pop stars and celebrities who are eager to lend their fame to help boost the visibility of China’s largest e-commerce retailer.
Last year, Singles’ Day generated a whopping $30.2 billion in sales in a 24-hour period, according to Alibaba.
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The e-commerce giant, co-founded by Jack Ma, is a major promoter of Single’s Day and has enlisted major stars to help jump-start consumer enthusiasm, according to Breitbart.
In past years, celebrities including actresses Nicole Kidman and Scarlett Johansson, as well as athletes Kobe Bryant and David Beckham have appeared at the annual concert event.
The multiple Grammy Award-winning @taylorswift13 will perform at Alibaba’s 11.11 Countdown Gala – a live show hosted by Alibaba’s video streaming platform Youku that runs in the hours leading up to the world’s biggest shopping day of the year. https://t.co/OEXXQI1Avh
— Alibaba Group (@AlibabaGroup) October 28, 2019
This year, Swift is expected to join a lineup of Asian stars including G.E.M., Lay Zhang, Hua Chenyu, and Kana Hanazawa.
The American pop singer signed a worldwide recording agreement last year with Universal Music Group.
China’s Tencent has reportedly been in talks to acquire a 10 percent stake in UMG, which is owned by Vivendi.
Swift’s albums are immensely popular among Chinese consumers.
Chinese sales of her latest album, “Lover,” even outpaced U.S. sales in its first week of release, with one million combined total streams, downloads, and sales.
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While the U.S. entertainment industry was once eager to buddy up with China, their close business relationship has come under scrutiny in recent months in the wake of pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.
Hollywood is facing criticism that it censors content in order to please China’s authoritarian Communist Party, which imposes strict controls on which foreign titles can be released locally.
Chinese companies like Alibaba operate in close cooperation with Beijing.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Alibaba was behind a popular digital app titled “Study to Make China Strong,” which feeds users Communist Party propaganda.
Back home in the United States, Swift has been vocalizing her newly found love for the Democratic Party and exercising her fondness for Hollywood's favorite free publicity trick - Trump-bashing.
In August, Swift vowed to "do everything I can for 2020," pledging to use her "influence" against President Donald Trump and his "disgusting rhetoric."
Speaking during an interview with The Guardian, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter declared she wants a leader who is pro-abortion and said she thinks President Trump is tearing the country apart.
“We’re a democracy – at least, we’re supposed to be – where you’re allowed to disagree, dissent, debate,” she said.
“I really think that [Trump] thinks this is an autocracy.”
