KUALA LUMPUR: Lay, the sole Chinese member of popular K-Pop group Exo, got mixed reactions from fans after he tweeted a post on the current situation in Hong Kong yesterday.
According to Koreaboo, the idol, also known as Zhang Yixing, tweeted his disapproval of the Hong Kong protests being carried out by its people.
In the trending tweet, he wrote: “Believe in the country, oppose violence, hope for peace in Hong Kong, China.”
Part of it also included: “I support the Hong Kong police.”
Some fans expressed their disappointment that the 27-year-old singer-songwriter, producer and dancer is defending the Hong Kong police who are allegedly accused of police brutality.
“I am disappointed Lay, you don't know how much Hong Kong citizens wants to keep their right for democracy. You don't know how much that means to them. I may be your fan but I'm more than willing to put down my Exo-l self just to support those Hong Kong nationals,” wrote one fan.
Another said: “Fans believe that as a celebrity, he has the power to use his influence for the greater good.”
One other fan wrote: “Yixing is the face of Chinese entertainment and the ambassador for Chinese communist youth, do you really think the Chinese government is going to let him keep quiet on this?”
There were other fans who expressed their support for the Hunan-born idol as well.
One wrote: “Everything that Yixing does has good intentions that come from the bottom of his heart, so many things that happen are not within his control, let the man breathe.”
Another said: “I don’t wanna see anyone talk about what Yixing should and should not do. How about we just make no comment on this thank you.”
It was recently reported that Lay had cancelled his contract with Samsung Electronics for damaging China’s “territorial integrity,” which saw the news going viral on Weibo after the post was viewed over 840 million times.
Apparently, the idol had also warned one of his endorsers, Calvin Klein, to tow the line and respect Beijing’s “One China” policy after the company implied that Taiwan and Hong Kong were independent countries.
Lay‘s representatives were reported to have released a statement which read: ”He is against any acts or words that split his country.”