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‘There must be reasons’: Cantopop star Hins Cheung’s apology for past political comments sparks fan theories
An engineer by day, Thomas spends most of his time inspecting building projects on construction sites. At night, he unwinds by performing in bars and restaurants across Hong Kong.
The 35-year-old has always had a passion for singing – in particular, he loves performing songs by Hins Cheung, his favourite Cantopop artist.
“When I have a gig, one-third or even half of my songs are Hins’ songs,” Thomas told HKFP. “I love how he expresses himself through singing. He’s very creative, and he’s humorous too.”
Last year, he even signed up for Hins Academy music seminars, personally taught by Cheung. They were not cheap, Thomas said, costing around HK$800 or $900 per seminar.
Cheung, 45, whose music career in Hong Kong has spanned more than two decades, was born and raised in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. He moved to Hong Kong in 2002 to pursue music.
His hits, from old-time favourites like “Tremor” to newer songs like “Imaginary Fairground,” are karaoke staples. He has also won multiple high-profile awards, and his concert tickets sell out notoriously quickly.
Last month, Cheung made headlines after he apologised for his past criticism of the government. His comments were published in a full-page interview with state-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po, in which he said he had been “impulsive” and “ignorant” in his younger years.
The out-of-the-blue repentance contrasted with the pro-democracy stance that Cheung had been associated with. While he – like most public figures in the city’s post-security law environment – has not commented on politics in recent years, his fans remember his support for social movements dating back to the anti-national education protests in 2012.
Cheung also said in the interview that he would serve as a mentor for a Security Bureau programme targeting young people arrested for their involvement in the 2019 protests and unrest. He would lead them on trips to mainland China so they could learn more about the country, he said.
Thomas – who requested to use a pseudonym due to the sensitivity of the topic – said the recent news did not change his perception of Cheung, as he did not think the statements were made of his own free will.
“This is a 180-degree difference” from what Cheung used to be, Thomas said in Cantonese. “I think there must be reasons behind the scenes.”
His reaction echoed many comments left on Cheung’s social media posts, some of which said the Wen Wei Po interview felt “bizarre” and suggested that something “had happened.”
Political pressure
A political scientist at a university in Hong Kong, who declined to be named, said he believed there was some merit in fans’ theories. Cheung’s dramatic turn showed the increasing political pressure that artists had to cave in to in order to succeed in their field, he said.
He speculated that the government wanted a popular public figure to step forward and “admit their mistakes” to encourage others to rethink their political views. Cheung was a “suitable candidate,” the academic said.
He opined that while Cheung was believed to have a pro-democracy stance, he was not as anti-establishment as other singers who have engaged in political activism.
In fact, while the Cantopop star has expressed support for the city’s social movements, he has also made posts on Weibo celebrating China’s National Day.
“He has the brand of being anti-government in some sense, but he’s not that extreme,” the scholar said. “He’s the ideal type for the government to work with.”
The apology and collaboration with the government are also beneficial for Cheung from a business perspective, the academic added.
In the past, artists worried that anti-establishment political statements could limit their opportunities across the border. Mainland China has been known to bar singers perceived as pro-democracy, making it difficult for them to hold concerts there.
But now that fear could be felt right at home, too, the academic said. In recent years, singers who are outspoken about their pro-democracy stance have faced difficulties securing concert venues in the city.
Outside of Cheung’s fan circle, however, criticism is not hard to come by. Lester Shum, a pro-democracy activist who was released from jail in January after serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence for a landmark national security case, said on Threads that Cheung was doing it “for the money.”
He appeared to downplay concerns that Cheung was under any pressure.
“Don’t say he’d get arrested if he didn’t do this lmao,” Shum wrote in Chinese. “I think the chances of that happening are close to zero.”
Another Threads user accused Cheung of “playing the victim” and trying to fish for sympathy.
‘For his music’
Comments like that do not faze long-time fan Brian, who said he has been listening to Cheung since his late primary school days.
The 29-year-old said he had been to Cheung’s concerts eight or nine times, a feat made possible by the fact that he could buy internal tickets through a friend’s relative who worked at Emperor Entertainment Group, Hong Kong’s talent management behemoth that manages the artist.
Tickets are too difficult to purchase during public sales, said Brian, who declined to disclose his full name.
“I have liked him for so many years for his music, not because of things he has said about politics in the past,” Brian told HKFP. “So I won’t stop liking him because of what he’s said about politics now.”
He told HKFP he himself is not a political person and that he does not support “either side.”
“But in Hong Kong, if you say you support the government, you will have more opportunities,” he said. “If [Cheung] still wants to develop in Hong Kong, to hold shows and appear in films, his stance must be supportive of the government.”
According to local media, Cheung appeared at a Security Bureau event at the Hong Kong Museum of History at the end of April, where he and other speakers gave talks to about 300 people. The event was aimed at young people who were arrested during the protests and unrest in 2019.
The singer shared the ups and downs of his career, including being scammed by a record company in mainland China when he was 17. In his talk, he did not mention national security.
Afterwards, participants were brought to the national security exhibition in the museum. Then, there was a lucky draw, with tickets to a star-studded concert featuring Emperor Entertainment Group’s singers among the prizes, an attendee told local media.
Thomas said he did not think that Cheung wanted to collaborate with the government on its event, but perhaps he had to as a favour to his music company, which is reportedly experiencing financial difficulties. Last year, Emperor Group actress Michelle Wai also gave a talk at a similar Security Bureau event targeting former 2019 protesters.
He also said it was “abnormal” that Cheung unfollowed many accounts on Instagram around the time the Wen Wei Po interview came out, including some of his closest artist friends like Terence Lam and Tyson Yoshi.
Thomas said he believed Cheung would not do that on his own.
He added that while Cheung had not spoken about politics in recent years, his music video for “Imaginary Fairground” – filmed in London in 2023 and depicting Hongkongers’ struggle to adapt to a new life in the UK – was interpreted by fans as a message of encouragement for those who had emigrated because of the city’s political developments.
Thomas’ friends who are also Cheung fans share his continued support for the artist, the hobbyist singer said, but some members of his own audience seem less forgiving.
Thomas had come across restaurant customers at his gigs who, upon hearing him perform Cheung’s songs, said they no longer listened to the Cantopop star.
“I think those are not his real fans,” Thomas said. “All they’ve seen are the news reports.”
