Singer who looks too much like President Xi Jinping censored by China on TikTok

Difficult, look-alike life. Especially when the man you look like is the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping. Lyrical singer Liu Keqing has made it bitter experience for a few years. While never considered an opponent of the Chinese regime, he was again removed from TikTok on the grounds of "image violation". It is the third time in less than two years.

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Liu Keqing would look "too much" like Xi Jinping. Same height: 1m81, same body, same square face and same black hair, the physical similarities are numerous and make people fear mockery and the creation of memes to the Chinese officials of TikTok. Liu Keqing explains to the New York Times that he must "provide identification documents each time" and "wait for the approval of those responsible" to be able to reopen his account: "I don't understand. Maybe the country has security issues. ”

Image control on the internet

Already in 2017, Winnie the Pooh had paid the price for Chinese censorship because internet users had fun of his resemblance to President Xi Jinping in montages that had gone viral on social networks. Now if you type "Winnie the Pooh" on Weibo (the first Chinese social network), a message indicating "illegal content" appears. Once again, the image of the president is "protected" and dissociated from that of Liu Keqing.

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Yet the baritone born in Beijing no longer lives in China but in Berlin and his activities on the social network are strictly musical and without polemical intentions: vocal training, videos of concerts, singing courts ... But the selfies displaying his features close to those of the president are enough to worry the Chinese authorities.

Especially with his 300,000 subscribers on TikTok, the singer has a community of fans from around the world. One of his videos on "bel canto" attracted more than 370,000 likes in two days, the resemblance between the two men being striking.

Liu Keqing worked at the National Opera of China before continuing his training in the United States, Austria and Germany. Recognized in the world of lyric singing, he notably won the Maria-Callas opera grand prize or the international Pavarotti singing competition. He is also behind the first private opera company in China. In the sight of the Chinese authorities, his face is now also at least as famous as his talent.