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Male “anti-fan” livestreamers invaded a boy-band training event — and targeted the largely female fan base.
Graffiti near the Time Fengjun headquarters after the violent protests reads: “Please let girls be themselves.”
Waving Chinese national flags and singing the military anthem are sights more commonly associated with state-sanctioned patriotic rallies. Yet on the night of August 18 along Chongqing’s Nanbin Road, young men used these patriotic symbols while marching against a seemingly bizarre enemy: teenage idol trainees of a boy-band talent agency and their female fans.
What began as a localized dispute outside the headquarters of Shidai Fengjun (also known as “Time Fengjun,” or TF Entertainment), an agency that helped pioneer China’s idol-trainee industry, rapidly escalated into a prolonged public disturbance. For days, the area around the agency saw escalating street violence, culminating in a heavy police presence and roadblocks.
