Trump-inspired Cantonese opera in Hong Kong aims to bring love and peace
HONG KONG: In a Cantonese opera inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump, a Chinese actor donning a blond wig spars on a Hong Kong stage with a man playing a double of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy - ridiculing his outfit and firing a water gun at him.
The sold-out show, 'Trump, The Twins President', was performed in the territory's Xiqu Theatre as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a one-hour-long call on Thursday.
Written by Edward Li, a Feng Shui master-turned-Cantonese opera playwright, the comedy made its Hong Kong debut in 2019. The three-and-a-half hour show has been through several iterations since with the latest version featuring Trump's attempted assassination and his quarrel with Zelenskiy in the White House.
Cantonese opera is a centuries-old Chinese art form blending singing, acting, martial arts, and elaborate costumes, and is traditionally performed during special occasions.
Li's latest production begins with a dream by Trump's daughter, Ivanka, where her father has a twin brother named Chuan Pu, living in China. When Trump is kidnapped by aliens from Mars, Ivanka asks Chuan to pretend to be Trump for a day.
In another act, Trump has a dramatic fight with Zelenskiy's presidential double over his clothing in the White House, and shoots him with a water gun from Chinese online shopping site Taobao while Zelenskiy pretends to have been shot.
The actors perform against a backdrop of photos from the actual events.
Li said he chose Trump as the main character because his tariffs and policies had affected everyone's daily life.
'I think this opera is quite a special medicine for the whole world,' Li said. 'If people see this opera they will feel very happy because they think of love and peace.'
Cantonese opera actor Lung Koon-tin, who portrayed Trump, said the U.S. president was unique.
'He increased tariffs and made the whole world speak out.'
Lung said China and the U.S. should be good friends.
'We are Chinese and he is American, but friendship always lives long. That's why we talk about Sino–U.S. friendship in the play.'
The audience erupted in laughter throughout the performance, breaking into enthusiastic applause at the end.
Many of them were younger people, including 28-year-old Thomas Lo.
He said that modern youth often felt disconnected from traditional Cantonese opera but the Trump-themed show, infused with contemporary events, offered a refreshing twist.
'It's fun and really something special,' Lo said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Kyiv rejects Russia's claims that Ukraine is delaying exchange of soldiers' bodies
KYIV: Russia's claims that Ukraine is delaying exchange of soldiers' bodies are untrue, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, urging Moscow to stop 'playing dirty games' and return to constructive work. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Saturday that Ukraine had unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers for an indefinite period. Russia and Ukraine held the second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday where they agreed to exchange more prisoners - focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded - and to return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. 'Today's statements by the Russian side do not correspond to reality or to previous agreements on either the exchange of prisoners or the repatriation of bodies,' Ukraine's state-run Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on the Telegram messenger. It said that the agreement on the repatriation of the bodies had indeed been reached, but that no date had been agreed upon and that 'the Russian side had resorted to unilateral actions' that had not been agreed within the framework of the process. Medinsky said Russia had also handed over to Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war, categorised as 'wounded, seriously ill and young people,' in order to begin the exchange. Ukraine, in turn, stated that it had also handed over the names for exchange, while Russia's lists did not correspond to the agreed approach as to which prisoners would be prioritised in the exchange.
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Ukraine denies delaying POW, soldiers' body exchanges
KYIV: Russia's claims that Ukraine is delaying exchange of soldiers' bodies are untrue, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, urging Moscow to stop 'playing dirty games' and return to constructive work. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Saturday that Ukraine had unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers for an indefinite period. Russia and Ukraine held the second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday where they agreed to exchange more prisoners - focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded - and to return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. 'Today's statements by the Russian side do not correspond to reality or to previous agreements on either the exchange of prisoners or the repatriation of bodies,' Ukraine's state-run Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on the Telegram messenger. It said that the agreement on the repatriation of the bodies had indeed been reached, but that no date had been agreed upon and that 'the Russian side had resorted to unilateral actions' that had not been agreed within the framework of the process. Medinsky said Russia had also handed over to Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war, categorised as 'wounded, seriously ill and young people,' in order to begin the exchange. Ukraine, in turn, stated that it had also handed over the names for exchange, while Russia's lists did not correspond to the agreed approach as to which prisoners would be prioritised in the exchange.
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
EU pushes China to address ‘alarming' rare earth export controls
The EU has urged China to stop restricting the export of rare earth minerals and magnets, with the bloc's trade chief saying its industries are in an 'alarming situation'. The request was made during a meeting between the sides' top commerce officials in Paris on Tuesday. It comes as sectors across Europe raise the alarm about a shortage of rare earths, which are used to manufacture hi-tech goods ranging from electric cars and smartphones to military tanks and aircraft. 'I informed my Chinese counterpart about the alarming situation in the European car industry, but I would say industry as such because clearly rare earths and permanent magnets are absolutely essential for industrial production,' Maros Sefcovic said on Wednesday, briefing reporters a day after his meeting with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. Around 90 per cent of the world's supply of rare earth minerals comes from China, which introduced export controls on their shipments in April in retaliation to US President Donald Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs. Rare earths consist of 17 elements. On April 4, Beijing added seven of these – dysprosium, gadolinium, lutetium, samarium, scandium, terbium and yttrium – to its export control list, plus several rare earth magnets, two days after Trump announced 'reciprocal tariffs', meaning licenses are now required for their export. While such restrictions were ostensibly intended to punish the US, firms around the world have been caught in the crossfire. Business chambers and industry groups have urged European governments to push for a solution, as mineral stocks run low and some areas of production grind to a halt. European companies have complained that China's commerce ministry seemed incapable of handling the voluminous requests, with licenses being issued slowly and on a piecemeal basis. 'Some applicants are asked for sensitive information that might compromise their intellectual property so they're reluctant to hand that over, but they need to if they want to get approval,' Adam Dunnett, secretary general at the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, said. The chamber has held 'emergency meetings' with Chinese authorities in recent days after an outpouring of anxiety from across European industry. 'I haven't seen anything of this magnitude for a long time,' Dunnett said of the level of concern among EU businesses. Sefcovic said that the two sides had compared figures on the number of applications versus the licenses issued. The figures did not match, Sefcovic said, adding that the EU would supply Beijing with 'all the data and would cover all the companies which are now in an extremely difficult situation'. Sefcovic suggested that Beijing could simplify its system, which now screens all requests for 'dual use' applications, meaning the rare earths could go towards military production. 'Some of the car companies are already announcing that if this issue is not addressed, there might be huge production difficulties in a short period of time,' Sefcovic said. 'His information was a little bit different, and therefore we agreed that he would clarify this as soon as possible, and that we would also address the propositions I made yesterday, and this was that our strong preference here,' he added. The EU's proposals include 'not to cover ... civilian production by this very complex system', Sefcovic said. The bloc would also like to see a 'general application ... to cover it once a year for the whole production', eliminating the need for cumbersome repeat applications. Sefcovic said the EU wanted the changes to avoid 'huge paperwork delays and stress, which this presents for our industry and for our companies. 'We agree that we will come back to this issue relatively soon.' Also on Wednesday, the EU named 13 projects it would initiate beyond its borders to help improve its self-sufficiency in rare earths and critical minerals. 'The export bans reinforce our will to diversify and perhaps even strengthen the relevance of our focus on reducing dependencies,' Stephane Sejourne, the European Commission's head of industrial strategy, said in announcing the projects in Brussels. Two projects will cover rare earth minerals in Malawi and South Africa, while others focus on various raw materials in Britain, Canada, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Zambia, Brazil and New Caledonia, a French overseas territory. The rare earth crisis adds another complication to already tense EU-China trade ties. Earlier this week, the bloc's member states voted to exclude Chinese companies from its lucrative medical devices procurement market after Beijing refused to open its tenders to the EU. In a bid to crack down on a deluge of small packages from Chinese e-tailers Temu and Shein, Brussels plans to add a surcharge of €2 (US$2.28) to small parcels imported. The EU also remains frustrated over Beijing's refusal to acknowledge state subsidies that it claims are leading to market-distorting industrial overcapacity. China, on the other hand, claims that Europe's moves to target its exporters are against the rules of global trade. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
