Blackpink mired in criticism for referring to fans from Macao as 'Macanese'
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink fell in a spot of bother recently after referring to fans from Macao as “Macanese”.
And a subsequent apology did not entirely ease the criticism from Chinese netizens.
The quartet were in Macau for two shows on May 20 and May 21.
A Weibo post after the show, on May 23, featured pictures of the group where they thanked their "Macanese" fans for their support.
This sparked a huge backlash from Chinese netizens, who said describing people from Macao as "Macanese" was inappropriate.
Not regarding Macao as part of China is disrespectful, they added, and that Blackpink should have referred to their fans in Macau as “Chinese” instead.
The criticism did not quieten down when the group edited the post, changing “Macanese BLINKs" to "Macau BLINKs" on May 29.
Netizens then said Blackpink intentionally avoided the use of the word "Chinese", thus sparking calls of a boycott against the group from some quarters.
Chinese media usually refer to people from Macao as "Macao residents" and "Macao people."
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