I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Li Yuchun is China’s newest singing star and she has Beijing shaking in its shoes. It’s not her notes that are worrying the government but her votes. See, more than 400 million people watched the final episode of the American-idol like “Supergirl” show and over 3 million of them cast their vote for her using their unmonitored cell phones. For the first time, citizens of China felt the rush of choosing their own winner. What’s so scary about that? Well, as a Beijing pollster commented, “… people might say, ‘Hey! Why not elect a mayor the way we elected Supergirl?” Pop stars and TV series might just be the unlikely building blocks of democracy in contemporary China.
Today’s Postcard from Asia was written by Sheree Willis. From the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.
