TAIPEI - A tongue-in-cheek online contest inviting people to apologise to China for unintended slights to the mainland, however insignificant or absurd, has attracted thousands of Likes.
The inaugural "Apologise to China" contest on Facebook was launched by Wang Yi-kai on July 16 and will run until the end of the month.
To enter, people simply need to upload a photo of what they wish to apologise for. The person who receives the most "Likes" for his or her post will be named the winner. Unfortunately, since Facebook is blocked in China by the authorities, the winning "apology" will likely fail to reach its target audience.
One user wrote from Taoyuan City in Taiwan, "We have freedom and democracy. I'm really sorry."
Another person wrote: "Apologies to China. While I'm Chinese, I cannot love the party, especially after seeing your true colours during the "6-4" incident on YouTube," referring to the Tiananmen massacre.
"I apologise for not notifying China before I burp," another commented.
A Taiwanese user said Wang should apologise to China for initiating the contest, which the person said had attracted international attention and therefore embarrassed China.
The BBC said on its website that the contest was "apparently a reaction to videos released by celebrities recently, apologising for actions and comments deemed to be insulting to China".
One of the most recent examples was the American-Japanese actress Kiko Mizuhara, who issued a video apology to Chinese audiences for liking a photo in which dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiei raised his middle finger at China's Tiananmen Square.
Her video has been shared more than 90,000 times on China's microblogging website, Weibo.
Criticism directed at her arose after she was named as a character in a Chinese film directed by the popular Chinese actress Zhao Wei. Many had threatened to boycott the film, which has completed filming but has not yet been released.
A Taiwanese actor staring in the same film, Leon Dai, was criticised for supporting Taiwanese independence and Hong Kong's pro-democracy Umbrella Movement.
Despite his denials that he supports Taiwanese independence, Dai was replaced after the film's production team said he failed to clarify his political stance.
Earlier this year, Chou Tzu-yu, a Taiwanese member of a Korean teenage pop group, apologised on YouTube for waving a Taiwanese flag during a performance.
Her forced apology, made on the same day as the presidential and legislative elections, served to unite the island. Many considered the incident one of the key reasons that helped the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party win both the elections in January.