Taipei, March 19 (CNA) Teenage pop star Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), a Taiwanese member of the South Korean girl group Twice, was spotted at Kaohsiung International Airport Saturday after returning from South Korea.
The 16-year-old, who lives in Tainan City, was accompanied by several co-workers, according to passengers who saw the star.
She later left the airport in a car, the passengers said.
Local media has reported that Chou will take part in a scholastic aptitude test held in Tainan on Sunday, but the city's Bureau of Education would not confirm the reports.
Chou is the first Taiwan-born member of a South Korean girl group.
In January, she became ensnared in a storm of controversy after she was accused by China-based Taiwanese singer Huang An (黃安) as being a supporter of Taiwan independence, following the teenager's appearance on a South Korean TV show late last year holding a Republic of China (Taiwan) national flag.
Huang's comments spurred a massive online attack by Chinese netizens on Chou and resulted in an apology by her and her South Korean management company JYP Entertainment.
In the video, a visibly shaking Chou bowed and apologized for hurting the feelings of netizens.
"There is only one China... I have always felt proud of being Chinese," she said
Chou's video apology was released just hours before Taiwan's presidential election on Jan. 16 and stirred up a political firestorm in Taiwan.
Although the incident was not seen as a deciding factor in the presidential election, commentators have said it helped increase the margin of victory for Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party, which favors Taiwan independence.
(By Chang Jung-hsiang and Y.F. Low)
ENDITEM/ke
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rsscna/EngNews/~3/64_lN8CMeZU/201603190016.aspx
