Fans of GOT7 have long waited in excitement for their Hong Kong concert dates on August 31 and September 1; but a sudden turn of events amid the rising Hong Kong protests for democratic freedom now has fans asking JYP Entertainment to cancel the dates with the hashtags #JYPCANCELHKCONCERT and #JYPE홍콩콘서트취소 on Twitter.

Fans fear for the safety of their group due to increasing outrage by Hong Kong citizens towards Hong Kong born member, Jackson Wang. The outrage follows his recent Weibo update, in which he joined CCTV's (China Central Television) nationalist 'The Five-starred Red Flag has 1.4 billion guardians' campaign and stated that he too is a guardian of the Chinese flag.

Over the past couple months, Hong Kong has been greatly affected by multiple protests against a bill that would allow its citizens to be extradited from Hong Kong to stand trial in Communist Party-controlled courts in mainland China. The CCTV campaign was put into motion after ­a number of Hong Kong protesters threw the Chinese flag into Victoria Harbour, as a symbol of their wish for independence from China, during a protest on August 3. Many Hong Kong citizens are interpreting him joining this campaign as him turning his back on his roots and taking mainland China's side in this dispute, all for Chinese fame and money. They also perceive him still keeping Hong Kong's area code in his Instagram account name as mockery.



After having found multiple concerning online comments by Hong Kong fans, e.g. sharing the group's flight information, calling Jackson a communist pig and talking about detaining him while tearing the Chinese flag to shreds in front of him, many international fans are now hoping JYP will take action and cancel the concerts to ensure the members' safety. On the other hand, many fans are concerned that cancelling the concert would only damage the group's image in Hong Kong further.

Hoping everyone stays safe! What are your thoughts on this complicated issue?



(Source)