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Lancôme Faces Hong Kong Backlash for Kowtowing to Beijing

French cosmetics company Lancôme has sparked a backlash in Hong Kong after it canceled a promotional concert featuring a singer known for pro-democracy views, with many accusing it of caving to political pressure from Beijing.
Lancôme store | Source: Shutterstock
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  • Associated Press

HONG KONG, China — French cosmetics company Lancôme has sparked a backlash in Hong Kong after it canceled a promotional concert featuring a singer known for pro-democracy views, with many accusing it of caving to political pressure from Beijing.

Cantopop singer and outspoken celebrity activist Denise Ho was scheduled to perform on June 19. But after word of the event got out, China's nationalist Global Times newspaper criticised Lancôme over the weekend through its microblogging Weibo account.

Lancome then said Sunday that the event had been canceled because of unspecified "safety reasons."

The Global Times added to the controversy when it said in an op-ed piece Tuesday that Lancome scrapped the event because it could not risk alienating mainland China, whose market dwarfs Hong Kong's.

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