Shawn Yue flamed by Chinese netizens for 'heavy Taiwanese accent' in vlog

Despite pledging his loyalty to China on multiple occasions.

Jean Chien Tay | November 01, 2021, 03:47 PM

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Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue is the latest celebrity to be flamed by Chinese netizens, apparently for his "heavy Taiwanese accent" when speaking in Mandarin in a recently released vlog.

Tons of critical comments regarding his accent and manner of speaking can be seen under his Oct. 26 post on Weibo that announced his new video project "Inside Out".

"There's only one thing on my mind, the Taiwanese "scent" in your Mandarin is too much!"


"The way you (Yue) speak is so fake, it makes me uncomfortable and want to give you a smacking."


"(Yue) lived in Taiwan for a long time, now (his) Taiwanese accent is so heavy..."


“The way you (Yue) talk is so annoying."

However, the 39-year-old actor did not appear to be affected by the comments, as he continued to share some of his prized art collection, furnitures, and a LEGO Porsche 911 in a subsequent post on the next day (Oct. 27).

The video marks Yue's foray into the realm of video content production, branching out from acting, fashion, and art-collecting.

Weibo bio: "Actor from Hong Kong, China"

Despite introducing himself as an actor from Hong Kong, China, on his Weibo profile, commenters appeared to take issue with what they said was a Taiwanese accent.

With his son making a cameo in the vlog, many fans were happy to see Yue play with his child on screen, though some Chinese netizens pointed out that his child also spoke in a Taiwanese accent.

These Weibo users further assumed that Yue and his son were influenced by his wife Sarah Wang, who's a Taiwanese actress.

The pair tied the knot in 2017, and have a four-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter together.

According to Malaysian Chinese-language media China Press, Yue has been living in Taiwan after he got married, and owns a place of residence in Taipei worth NTD280 million (S$13.47 million).

Regular nationalistic posts

Despite posting patriotic posts on Weibo regularly, Yue was still criticised by ultra-nationalists on the Chinese social media platform.

Just a few weeks prior, the actor took to Weibo to wish China a "Happy Birthday" on the country's national day (Oct. 1).

"Bless the motherland, cheer for today's China."

Yue's congratulatory note was shared 3,494 times, and "liked" by 2,293 netizens.

The actor also posted in remembrance of the Manchurian Incident on Sep. 18, which marked the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

Expressed support for Xinjiang cotton

Yue also expressed his support for "Xinjiang cotton" in March, amid the resulting outcry among Chinese netizens after western brands like Adidas and H&M cast allegations of forced labour over the production of cotton in the Chinese autonomous region.

He further clarified that his collaboration with Adidas ended in 2016, amid rumours of him and the brand planning to work together, according to Chinese media NetEase.

"Hong Kong returning to China is a fact"

In March 2020, Yue came under fire on Weibo when netizens pointed out that his fashion brand -- MADNESS -- featured one of the hand signals used during the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, Chinese media Guancha reported.

The design in question. (Image via Weibo)

Weibo users thought that the design referred to the "five demands, not one less" hand sign of the protests.

Denying the allegations, Yue wrote, "Hong Kong returning to China is a fact" on Weibo.

He also expressed "contempt and anger at the smear campaign", before apologising and explaining that the design was done before the protests kicked off.

Yue's apology was reportedly among the top trending topics on Weibo at the time.

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Top image via @lok666/Instagram & Weibo