EXO Kai and Sehun were initially set to appear at China's Tencent Music Entertainment Awards (TMEA) this December, however, it seems like the K-pop idols will no longer do so.
Presented by Tencent Music Entertainment Group, the leading online music entertainment platform in China, TMEA is the largest annual music awards ceremony held in the country at the end of every year.
EXO Kai and Sehun Removed from the List of Attendees at Tencent Music Entertainment Awards
On Dec. 8, several Chinese media outlets reported that the post announcing EXO's attendance at the Tencent Music Entertainment Awards has been deleted on the official Weibo account of the awards show.
Other than that, the names of EXO members Kai and Sehun, who were previously announced as representatives, were omitted from the list of attendees.
With EXO Sehun and Kai's participation at TMEA being canceled, curiosity is rising as to why this happened. Chinese netizens are protesting online, complaining that they only bought tickets to watch the K-pop artists.
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The EXO members' appearance at the Chinese awards ceremony was highly anticipated at it would be their first attendance in about six years since China banned anything that concerns South Korea.
At the time EXO's participation at the Tencent Music Entertainment Awards was announced earlier this month, many fans were wondering whether the Chinese government has lifted the Hallyu ban.
Since November 2016, Korean celebrities have been restricted from promoting in China due to the tensions between South Korea and China over Korea's deployment of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system in the same year.
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Apart from Korean entertainers not being able to hold events in China, South Korean companies are prohibited from exporting products to China. Further, Korean dramas are not allowed to air in the country and Korean actors/actresses are restricted from appearing on Chinese TV shows.
As of writing, the TMEA has not released an official statement to confirm whether EXO Sehun and Kai will or will not attend the awards ceremony that will be held on Dec. 11.
EXO Members Dominate Top 10 of Weibo's Monthly Popularity Lists in 2021 for Male Idols
In other news, EXO has proven their immense popularity in China once again as all members of the boy group made it to Weibo's monthly popularity lists every month this year. Weibo is the biggest social media platform in China, having 573 million active users per month.
From January to July, EXO members dominated the top 10. In particular, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Sehun secured the first three places on the monthly popularity lists for January, while D.O., Kai and Suho ranked No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10 respectively in the same month.
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For February, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Sehun placed No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, while Kai placed No. 5 and D.O., Suho, Xiumin and Chen secured the last four places in the top 10.
In the following months until August, the EXO members are just switching places within the top 10 of the monthly popularity lists on Weibo.
In September, Weibo announced that their "popularity list" will not continue anymore.
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Written by Mhaliya Scott
