Cross-straits top media celebrities of 2009
Cross-straits top media celebrities of 2009
Mirroring the trend of previous years, the top three places on this year’s Annual Pan-Chinese Celebrity Rosters were taken by political figures. They are US President Barack Obama,
Released today (23 December) by the Language Information Sciences Research Centre (LISRC) of City University of Hong Kong (CityU), the 2009 LIVAC Celebrity Rosters show political issues again dominating media coverage in
“Most celebrities on the rosters are, as in previous years, emerging or senior political figures in mainland
The rosters detail the rankings in terms of total media exposure of personalities in
The People’s Republic of
This year’s Pan-Chinese roster (Table 1) contains a total of 19 names, among whom 12 are non-Chinese. Taipei’s former Kuomintang chairman Wu Poh-hsiung and Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama would not appear on the Pan-Chinese roster if
As in the past, the range of individuals found in the regional rosters (Table 2) was revealing. On the
The similar ratio of local and non-local celebrities in Taipei and Beijing is also noteworthy. In Beijing, the only non-Chinese celebrity is the US president Barack Obama, while in Taipei Tiger Woods is included in addition to the US president. Whereas Beijing’s preoccupation with itself could be induced by national pride, for being recognized as an emerging world power, Taipei’s greater concern with itself may reflect a primary concern about putting the house in order in the wake of the years under Chen Shui-bian. As usual, Shanghai’s pragmatism may be reflected by the domination of sports celebrities on its local roster, with only one from showbiz: Michael Jackson, making the grade. It is noteworthy that there are 11 non-Chinese celebrities on the Shanghai list, suggesting a comparable, if not greater, degree of cosmopolitanism than
Table 1: 2009 Pan-Chinese Celebrity Roster (
| Pan-Chinese | | | |
1 | Barack Obama | Hu Jintao | Barack Obama | Chen Shui-bian |
2 | Hu Jintao | Wen Jiabao | Chen Shui-bian | Barack Obama |
3 | Chen Shui-bian | Barack Obama | Hu Jintao | Dalai Lama |
4 | Wen Jiabao | Dalai Lama | Wen Jiabao | Hu Jintao |
5 | | Mao Zedong | Yukio Hatoyama | Wu Poh-hsiung |
6 | Dalai Lama | | George W. Bush | Roger Federer |
7 | Yukio Hatoyama | Taro Aso | Kim Dae Jung | Yukio Hatoyama |
8 | Roger Federer | Michael Phelps | Dalai Lama | Hillary Clinton |
9 | Mao Zedong | Abhisit Vejjajiva | Roger Federer | Kim Dae Jung |
10 | Kim Dae Jung | Bill Clinton | Taro Aso | |
11 | | Wu Poh-hsiung | | Taro Aso |
12 | Taro Aso | Roger Federer | | |
13 | George W. Bush | Kim Dae Jung | Michael Phelps | Bill Clinton |
14 | Hillary Clinton | Rebiya Kadeer | Hillary Clinton | Mao Zedong |
15 | Wu Poh-hsiung | Hillary Clinton | Rebiya Kadeer | Michael Phelps |
16 | Michael Phelps | Chen Shui-bian | Abhisit Vejjajiva | George W. Bush |
17 | Bill Clinton | Yukio Hatoyama | Mao Zedong | Rebiya Kadeer |
18 | Abhisit Vejjajiva | George W. Bush | Bill Clinton | Wen Jiabao |
19 | Rebiya Kadeer | | Wu Poh-hsiung | Abhisit Vejjajiva |
Table 2: 2009 Regional Celebrity Roster (Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai)
| | | | |
1 | Hu Jintao | Barack Obama | Ma Ying-jeou | Barack Obama |
2 | Wen Jiabao | Ma Ying-jeou | Chen Shui-bian | |
3 | Barack Obama | Donald Tsang Yam-kuen | Barack Obama | Liu Xiang |
4 | Xi Jinping | Michael Jackson | Wang Chien-ming | Yu Zhengsheng |
5 | Jia Qinglin | Jill Vidal | Wu Shu-chen | Han Zheng |
6 | Qian Xuesen | Chen Shui-bian | Liu Chao-hsiuan | Ding Junhui |
7 | Wu Bangguo | John Tsang | Wu Dun-yi | |
8 | Li Keqiang | Andy Lau | Tsai Ying-wen | Zhu Jun |
9 | Li Changchun | Cristiano Ronaldo | Dalai Lama | David Beckham |
10 | Dalai Lama | Hu Jintao | Chen Chu | Tracy McGrady |
11 | Li Xiannian | Henry Tang Ying-yen | Tsao Chin-hui | Yi Jianlian |
12 | Zhou Yongkang | Edison Chen | Tiger Woods | Gu Li |
13 | Cai Yiqing | Kaka | Chen Chih-chung | Roger Federer |
14 | Mao Zedong | Tiger Woods | Jeffrey Koo Jr. | Liu Zige |
15 | Li Yuanchao | Wen Jiabao | Hsieh Hsin-ta | Diego Maradona |
16 | Liu Yandong | Leon Lai | Chen Cheng-hui | Xu Genbao |
17 | Wang Ying | Kelvin Kwan | Hu Jintao | Cristiano Ronaldo |
18 | He Guoqiang | Joseph Yam | Kuo Hong-Chih | Michael Jackson |
19 | Wang Qishan | Yukio Hatoyama | Lu Kuo-hua | Manuel Zelaya |
20 | Yang Jiechi | Aung San suu Kyi | Chiang Ping-kun | Usain Bolt |
21 | Wu Daguan | Bernard Madoff | Wu Poh-hsiung | Kim Dae Jung |
22 | Wang Yansheng | Aaron Kwok | Lee Wen-chung | Li Weifeng |
23 | Hui Liangyu | Zhao Ziyang | Yeh Chin-chuan | Tang Miao |
24 | Wang Gang | Gillian Chung | Huang Fang-yen | Chen Yaoye |
25 | Ma Pengfei | George W. Bush | Ma Yung-cheng | Zheng Jie |
Media enquiries:
Benjamin T’sou, Language Information Sciences Research Centre, CityU (6728 5619);
Andy Chin, Language Information Sciences Research Centre, CityU (95278484);
Michelle Leung, Communications and Public Relations Office, CityU (3442 6827 or 9050 7507).