The iconic logo for American hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan, shown behind rapper RZA during a 2013 performance, is not as recognizable to the Chinese public, and was interpreted by some to resemble a bat.Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
The Chinese government said Canada should learn a lesson about offending people in China after a diplomat ordered eight T-shirts featuring the logo from rap group the Wu-Tang Clan and the words “Wu-han.”
Many in China failed to grasp the meaning of the T-shirts, mistaking the Wu-Tang logo as a depiction of a bat. In the ensuing furor, the Chinese government said it was “shocked” at the T-shirts, logging a formal complaint with the Canadian government and demanding an investigation.
The Canadian government initially dismissed the Chinese anger as a “misunderstanding.” The T-shirts were made by a diplomat as a memento for embassy workers who travelled to Wuhan to help with the evacuation of Canadians locked down in the city early in the pandemic outbreak. The Wu-Tang emblem, among the most recognizable in popular music, depicts a stylized W.
But on Sunday night, the Canadian embassy in Beijing issued a statement of “sincere regret that the private production of T-shirts for embassy staff featuring Wuhan and the logo of a popular hip-hop group has offended public sentiment in China.”
Though the shirts “were not produced to make any statement, political or otherwise,” the embassy said, “we regret the offence they may have caused.”
The statement pointedly did not include an apology, but nonetheless marked a public signal of deference to the Chinese outrage.
On Monday, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said it was pleased with the show of humility.
A Canadian diplomat ordered T-shirts for embassy staff emblazoned with Wu-Han in place of Wu-Tang on a Wu-Tang Clan logo.Supplied/Supplied
“We noticed the Canadian embassy admits that the behaviour of its staff member has offended public sentiment in China,” spokesman Wang Wenbin said. “Canada should take this as a lesson learned and make sure such things won’t happen again.”
But if the Canadian statement satisfied the demands of the Chinese government, it did little to assuage social-media anger. By Monday evening, a Mandarin hashtag that translates into English as “Canada admits that T-shirt offended the Chinese public” had attracted 170 million views. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents to a digital poll posted by a video blogger said they would not accept the Canadian statement.
On the Twitter-like Weibo social-media site, meanwhile, users continued to lash out at the Canadian embassy’s account.
“The Canadian dog, by using the word ‘regret’ instead of ‘apologize,’ is actually trying to say, ‘I just did what I wanted to, and I feel sorry for not hiding it well,’ ” one Weibo user wrote.
Similar sentiment appeared among people commenting on state media coverage of the Foreign Ministry response.
“Canada didn’t apologize because they felt they did something wrong,” another person posted. “They lowered their head for the sake of the renminbi” (the Chinese currency).
With a report from Alexandra Li
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