I t's easy, as Americans, to look at China just through the lens of how it's different. (ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty) How we misread ChinaĪ sign urging environmental responsibility in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Allen-Ebrahimian scans through Chinese social media and sees people discussing Taylor Swift's 1989, but only really as an album. There's nothing subversive about it.Ĭhinese consumers are not treating the album or merchandise as political. It appears to have taken on no political significance in China since October, so it's odd to think that T-shirts with the same letters would be controversial now.įoreign Policy's Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian makes a great point as well: Other foreign artists who've been censored in China or barred from performing had deliberately done something politically sensitive, such as when Bjork chanted "Tibet." But any political significance of Swift's album is entirely coincidental. Nor are there indications that Chinese social media users have adopted the album or Swift as a symbol of subtle resistance to the censorship regime or anything like that. Those same letters and numbers are on Swift's album cover, which has been out since October and has not been subject to censorship. Given China's severe censorship of anything related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre - so severe that many Chinese college kids have never heard of it - you can imagine how people could worry that a giant sweatshirt emblazoned with "T.S. Taylor Swift sells this sweatshirt for $40 at her online store. Yes, this sweatshirt looked like it might cause an international incident
At this point this is still a non-controversy. It's possible that will change, but it looks unlikely. So far, the answer to all of those questions is no. Would it be a geopolitical controversy? Would Taylor Swift's name be censored on Chinese social media? Could she be shut out of the giant Chinese market, as American musicians have been in the past for, say, associating with the Dalai Lama? Even the date, June 4, 1989, is considered politically sensitive. could also stand for Tiananmen Square, and 1989 is the year of the infamous Tiananmen Square massacre of students and democracy activists.Ĭhina is known for heavily censoring even the slightest reference to Tiananmen Square. Those are the artist's initials and the title of her most recent album, 1989.
On Tuesday, shortly after Taylor Swift revealed plans to sell new merchandise in China, people began noticing something uncomfortable about the Swift-themed clothing: Much of it bore the initials "T.S." and the year 1989.
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