Katy Perry sets stage for China shit storm by donning Taiwan flag and sunflowers

By Ryan Kilpatrick, April 29, 2015

Fresh from touring the PRC, US pop star Katy Perry lay the grounds from a serious shit storm at her Taipei concert last night by donning both a Taiwanese flag and sunflower dress on stage.

In what was her first performance in the Taiwanese capital, Perry took hold of the "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" flag of the Republic of China from an audience member and draped it around her shoulders like a cape as she sang the song "Unconditionally."

While waving the flag of a host nation may be par of course just about anywhere else in the world, acknowledging the fact that Taiwan falls under the jurisdiction of a government separate from that of Chinese mainland is anathema to Beijing and its claims of sovereignty over the self-governing island nation,

Bowing to pressure from Beijing, international organizations and sporting events have roundly banned the appearance of the flag as well as any mention of the Republic of China.

As far as affronts to the People's Republic go this would have more than sufficed, but Perry also went a (big) step further by doing all this while resplendent in a gown made of sunflowers - namesake of the student-led Sunflower Movement that occupied the Legislative Yuan building last year to protest the ruling Kuomintang's attempt to the push through a controversial trade pact with China without a democratic item-by-item review.

Although it wasn't the first time Perry was pictured in the dress, the potent symbolism of flying the ROC flag bedecked in sunflowers was lost on no one - least of all to her Taiwanese fans who, according to Liberty Times, have taken to calling her the "Sunflower Queen."

In Chinese mainland, she's still known as "Fruit Sister," but something a lot meaner could be in the works as Chinese fans worry that the singer may soon face a mainland ban.

[Images via Apple Daily, Liberty Times]