Aaron Yan’s Criticism of WHO May Have Gotten Him Blacklisted in China

Aaron Yan (炎亞綸) may have gotten himself blacked in mainland China after making a post criticizing the World Health Organization (WHO).

A Chinese netizen was the first to point out this speculation after it realized that Aaron was no longer on the list of judges for the upcoming boy band competition The Name of Youth 2020 <少年之名2020>, aka the second season of All for One <以團之名>. Aaron’s removal came after the Taiwanese singer-actor openly criticized WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom on social media.

However, Aaron’s manager was quick to disprove the blacklist speculations by sharing that Aaron had to turn down All for One 2 due to already signing a contract to appear on the Taiwanese show 36 Questions <36題愛上你>. In addition to mandatory quarantine laws upon travel, it would be difficult for Aaron and his team to juggle two different shows in Taiwan and Mainland China. Aaron will also be working on his new album in the meantime.

On April 8th, WHO leader Tedros Adhanom said he had been subjected to racist comments and death threats for months, and said the abuse had originally come from Taiwan.

Taiwan has never been a member of WHO due to China refusing to recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign unity.

Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Taiwan’s president, has said that Taiwan does not tolerate racism or any form of discrimination, and Taiwan’s own government has called out the racist attacks as irresponsible.

After Adhanom’s claims, Aaron harshly criticized the WHO leader for his comments about Taiwan. “Despite how the world is suffering from your misguidance, hundreds of millions infected, tens of thousands died, the losses financially worldwide, medical system overloaded… I’m surprised that you have the nerve addressing your own personal s*** on an international organization conference,” he wrote. “Why won’t you just suck it up and shut the f*** up and do your job!”

Aaron soon posted a follow-up statement and apology, apologizing for being rash and emotional about his earlier comments, but also affirmed that he cannot condone more polarization in the world when everyone is supposed to band together to fight a disease.

“I had also attacked and I was wrong,” wrote Aaron. “I was emotional. I had a lot of fears. I am concerned about my father who is in the hospital every day. I am sorry. But, I am not escaping. I think it’s important for everyone to have an opinion, and these opinions should be discussed. I have been vocal about my thoughts since the beginning. I feel pain for the the frontline workers, and for my father who also works in healthcare. I cannot understand why we can’t just focus on preventing this pandemic.”

Source: 163.com