Special programme: Taiwan's artists step out of China's shadow (part 1)

For decades under martial law, Taiwanese children were educated to believe that the island was a part of China. That changed in 1987, when Taiwan transitioned to democracy. The arrival of free speech led to a generation of young artists dedicated to exploring and embracing their Taiwanese identity.

FRANCE 24's Alison Sargent meets Freddy Lim, one of the leading voices defending Taiwan's sovereignty – both in parliament, where he was elected in 2016, and on stage as frontman of popular heavy metal band Chthonic. He says metal music is all about rebelling, and Taiwanese metal is about standing up to "Asian dictators" and affirming universal human rights.

I think in Taiwan we have our own cause we want to stand for. The dictators in Asia say that universal human rights do not belong to the Asian people. We are fighting against that.

Freddy Lim, heavy metal singer and MP

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While Freddy sends his message with power chords, Taiwan-based artists Namewee and Kimberly Chen say it with a love song. On the surface, their 2021 duet "Fragile" is about an ex-lover refusing to accept a breakup. But many recognised the illusion to Taiwan's possessive neighbour and the song quickly went viral, racking up over 70 million views. Yet criticising China doesn't come without consequence. Emily Y. Wu, producer and founder of Ghost Island Media, tells us about an incident in 2016, when Chou Tzu-yu, a Taiwanese member of K-pop group "Twice", was forced to record an apology after waving a Taiwanese flag on a TV show. 

There are a lot of artists who try to walk the line very carefully because they rely on the Chinese market. There is a lot of self-censorship that happens.

Em