Memo #358
By Jonathan Brasnett – jonathan.brasnett [at] alumni.ubc.ca
While beauty contests have often been analyzed as sites of gendered oppression or commodification, they have actually long been sites of political contestation and to a lesser degree, activism by the contestants. In November 2015, when the People’s Republic of China faced two beauty queens raising controversial political issues, the Chinese government resorted to its usual strategy of silencing its opponents.
In the Miss Earth pageant, Taiwan’s candidate, Ting Wen-yin was asked to leave the competition after refusing to wear a sash that said “Chinese Taipei.” After first being given a sash reading “Taiwan, R.O.C.,” the term generally accepted by Taiwan, she was told this was a mistake and it was replaced with a sash bearing the name accepted by China’s government under the 1992 Consensus. Taiwan’s nation-status and diplomatic ties have suffered at China’s insistence that it is part of the PRC, despite its independent governance since 1949.
With the Miss World pageant final taking place in the PRC, Canada’s representative, Anastasia Lin was denied an entry visa to participate in the competition. Lin won her crown in Canada for voicing opposition to the Chinese Communist Party’s repression of the Falungong movement in China, of which she is herself a follower. Falungong was outlawed in the PRC in 1999 after many followers organized a mass non-violent protest outside the government compound in central Beijing to end religious discrimination.
Only weeks before Ting Wen-yin’s removal from the Miss Earth pageant, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss closer cooperation between China and Taiwan despite polls revealing that a majority of Taiwanese wants independent nation status. When Anastasia Lin was learning that she would not be allowed to enter China for the Miss World Final, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was meeting President Xi to discuss greater partnership between Canada and China. There was no mention of Chinese repression of religious minorities, despite Trudeau’s foreign affairs mandate letter explicitly advocating the respect for diversity and human rights.
China’s economic might means world leaders often side-step sensitive political issues in order to prioritize bilateral trade and investment. Meanwhile, some beauty queens are using their platforms and agency to challenge the Chinese government on key controversies that political leaders are forced to ignore.
About the Author:
Jonathan Brasnett is a graduate student in the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia. His writing can be followed here.
Canada’s representative to the Miss World pageant Anastasia Lin (Left) as well as Ting Wen-yin, Taiwan’s representative to the Miss Earth pageant (Right) were both unable to participate in their respective beauty pageants due to suppression by the Chinese government (Sources: AFP/Getty via The Independent and Facebook Via Focus Taiwan News Channel).
Links:
- James W. Tong, Revenge of the forbidden city: the suppression of the Falungong in China, 1999-2005, New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
- Neville Hoad, “World Piece: What the Miss World Pageant Can Teach about Globalization,” Cultural Critique, no. 58 (2004): 56-81.
- Rebecca Chiyoko King-O’Riain, “Making the Perfect Queen: The Cultural Production of Identities in Beauty Pageants,” Sociology Compass, 2, no. 1 (2008): 74-83.
- Richard C. Bush III, “What the historic Ma-Xi meeting could mean for cross-Strait relations,” Brookings. November 9, 2015,
- Xu Shiquan, “The 1992 Consensus: A Review and Assessment of Consultations Between the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and the Straits Exchange Foundation,” American Foreign Policy Interests, Vol 23, Issue 3, 2001.
- You-tien Hsing and Ching Kwan Lee, “Reclaiming Chinese society: the new social activism,” New York: Routledge, 2010.