Taylor Swift just offended all of China

TAYLOR Swift’s soon-to-be released clothing line and merchandise is treading a fine line in China.

The pop star’s clothing line, called TS 1989 — alluding to her initials and the year of birth, is receiving unwelcome press about how it could be construed as promoting the Tiananmen Square incident in the same year.

Any talk of the 1989 incident has been suppressed by China’s communist government ever since.

The dates are so sensitive that China has black-listed searches with any combinations of the numbers 6, 4 and 89 on Chinese social media sites, to prevent people looking for information on what has become known as the June 4 Massacre.

Recently Swift released a promotional video promoting the line in China, introducing herself in Mandarin.

“Ni hao, it’s Taylor Swift. Be sure to check out my new authentic mercy [merchandise], now available in China,” she says.

The clothing line will be available for purchase in China via e-commerce site JD.com next month — assuming it gets past censors. At this stage, the line won’t be available in other countries.

The internet has been quick to comment on the faux-pas. Beijing based journalist Fergus Ryan said “forget Apple & Spotify, now Tay-Tay is taking on the Chinese Communist Party”.

Twitter user @metapostasy channelled Taylor Swift’s song Blank Space with “I gotta a (sic) blank space, baby, and it’s an accounting of Tiananmen Square in Chinese history books”.

Simon Kinnear asked “how long before the first Taylor Swift fan unwittingly gets arrested while on holiday in China?”.

Fans — or Swifties — have been counteracting the jokes with their excitement for the line.

“TSWIFT is finally launching a clothing line?! Debuting this summer? is this real life?! I’m so excited!” said twitter user @JuliaMXx.

This isn’t the first time an American pop singer has offended her Asian fans. In May, Katy Perry sparked controversy in Taiwan by wearing a dress adorned with sunflowers, the symbol of Taiwan’s anti-China protest last year.

Taylor Swift is set to tour China in November, with or without her merchandise. She’s coming to Australia in late November.

Katy Perry has worn the sunflower dress throughout her Prismatic global tour, but it caused controversy when she wore it in Taiwan. Photo: Feature China/ Barcroft Media. Source: Getty Images