The Chinese government has lashed out at Canada over a customized T-shirt bearing the Wu-Tang Clan symbol, a hip-hop group from New York. The name Wu-Tang was replaced with Wuhan over a stylized “W” that looks like a bat.
Images of the T-shirt went viral in China recently. A parcel sticker showed that many shirts were shipped to Chad Hensler, a Canadian diplomat who works at Canada’s embassy in Beijing. Chinese netizens immediately took offense at the T-shirt as they believed it to be racist against Chinese people.
Beijing took up the issue and demanded Canada explain the matter, stating that the Canadian staff had offended many Chinese citizens.
“The T-shirt logo designed by a member of the embassy shows a stylized “W” and is not intended to represent a bat. It was created for the team of embassy staff working on repatriation of Canadians from Wuhan in early 2020… This was a personal initiative from an employee and this was not endorsed by the embassy nor Global Affairs Canada. We regret the misunderstanding,” Canadian foreign ministry spokeswoman Christelle Chartrand, said in a statement.
Wu-Tang may sue the people responsible for modifying their logo
However, the stylized “W” of the Wuhan t-shirt has a bat head and wings. It contrasts the original Wu-Tang Clan “W” logo, which the group has been using since 1993. The hip-hop group has used the “W” to represent a bat in previous marketing campaigns.
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Back in 2007, the band’s producer, Ronald “Mathematics” Bean, designed the “W” in a way that looked dangerous and cool. RZA, the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, loved the design. He said the “W” looked like something that could decapitate a person if thrown.
Neither Hensler nor the Canadian embassy in Beijing has commented on the incident, remaining silent to avoid worsening the controversy. People have suggested that the Wu-Tang Clan might sue the people who modified their logo on the T-shirts in a way that caused such a scandal.
Beijing’s real concern is likely linking Wuhan to the coronavirus pandemic. The communist regime is desperately trying to hide the CCP virus’ origin, despite the well-known fact that the city was the starting point of the viral outbreak. Several CCP-approved scientists are demanding that the World Health Organization (WHO) send an investigation team to Europe or America to find the virus’s origin outside of communist China.
A WHO investigation team is presently looking into the origin of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan. State-backed Global Times supported the communist regime’s propaganda efforts, stating that the US had the most diverse virus strains. That would make the US an ideal candidate for the origin of the CCP virus. The paper also pointed a finger at Brazil, India, Italy, France, and Spain as possible birthplaces of COVID-19.
While trying to shift the blame onto other nations, the communist regime is also suppressing Chinese citizens’ voices who have lost relatives to the pandemic. One group that comprises 80 to 100 family members on WeChat is under increased pressure to remain silent during the WHO’s investigation. The Communist government deleted their WeChat group without explanation a few days ago.
“This shows that [Chinese authorities] are very nervous. They are afraid that these families will get in touch with the WHO experts… When the WHO arrived in Wuhan, [authorities] forcibly demolished [the group]. As a result, we have lost contact with many members,” Zhang Hai, a member of the group, told Hong Kong Free Press.
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