This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
YouTuber Brendan Kavanagh lived in a van for two days out of fear of violent repercussions following a standoff with a group of Chinese flag-wavers around the public piano in London’s St Pancras railway station, he said via his channel, adding that he had received emails “threatening his life” after the incident went viral.
The group, who said they were in the station shopping mall to celebrate the Lunar New Year, appealed to local police after YouTube boogie-woogie pianist Brendan Kavanagh told them he wouldn’t stop filming, despite their request that he delete their images, which they described as “non-disclosable.”
They also accused him of racism for saying “this is not China,” and of “touching” a woman in the group when he touched a flag she was carrying, according to Kavanagh’s Jan. 19 live stream. A police officer who turned up at the scene appeared to side with the flag-wavers, ordering Kavanagh not to film or post their conversation on social media.
Kavanagh, who turned up at the piano again on Friday with a plushie Winnie the Pooh toy and a sticker bearing a reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre – both of which are banned by Chinese censors – said the incident was about defending freedom of speech and artistic expression.
“There was an attempt to shut us down and it was completely out of order, and I just thought that the ability to play the piano in public is a fundamental human right,” Kavanagh told journalists who were interviewing him during his Jan. 26 live stream. “This piano of course was donated by Elton John and it symbolizes … artistic freedom.”
“I think the power of the arts to crush dictatorships, I think that that’s what came out [this] for me,” he said.
Kavanagh then picked up a Winnie the Pooh toy and framed picture, saying he had brought them along because he recently learned that references to the fictional bear have been banned due to a supposed resemblance to Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.
“I heard Winnie the Pooh was like garlic to a vampire to the Chinese commies,” he said. “Popular arts and music, poetry, dancing and singing is a threat to those in power, and I’m really trying to bring back that rock-and-roll rebellious spirit into music, you know.”
Kavanagh also posted a photo of “a new sticker for the piano” showing Winnie the Pooh and a British flag bearing the digits “8964,” a reference to the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre of civilians by the People’s Liberation Army, to his Facebook account.
But he said he had spent an uneasy time after many viewers misinterpreted a comment by one of the flag-wavers – “Don’t shoot him” – as referring to a potential firearm rather than to shooting video.
“People were just absolutely freaking out and … for the first two days I actually went into hiding … and actually lived in my van for two days in the countryside,” Kavanagh said, adding that the Chinese community online had been “fantastic” and had managed to identify the people concerned.
Kavanagh also received death threats by email from “little pink” supporters of the Chinese Communist Party following the incident, he said.
“I had lots of emails from people telling me to watch myself, to watch my back,” he said. “I’ve had emails threatening my life.”
‘CCP Blues’
In a separate clip aired by TalkTV, Kavanagh declared: “This piano has become a CCP-free, little pink-free zone,” before launching into an improvised boogie-woogie titled the “CCP Blues.”
“God bless you all! Glory to Hong Kong! I totally support Taiwan,” he said.
Kavanagh has garnered large numbers of supportive comments from people identifying as Taiwanese, Hong Kongers and even some people living in mainland China itself since the original confrontation, which has now been viewed more than 9 million times on YouTube, although Kavanagh did express concern on a U.K. talk show that YouTube might remove it due to complaints from “little pink” supporters of Beijing.
“I’m a Taiwanese, this is what we get from being neighbors with China,” YouTube user @henryshen5445 commented on one video. “This drama just shows the world how they behave.”
“I am a Vietnamese American, totally support and praise Brendan to bravely stand up for freedom of speech…totally banned in communist and socialist countries,” wrote @marcellenewcomb975, adding: “This is NOT an “Asian Hate” issue.”
“As a Tibetan, I have first hand experience of CCP brutality,” commented @thuptenpalden5955. “Those bugs that told you that you can’t film in a public place in a free country are nothing but completely brainwashed and don’t even know what they are saying.”
“I was in tears actually watching your speech cuz Im a Chinese living in China and suffering from the devil, the authoritarian!,” wrote user @runaway2121. “Thank you, Dr.K!”
Political commentator and fellow YouTuber Martin Oei said such incidents will only raise international awareness of China’s attempts at “long-arm” enforcement of its laws far beyond its own borders.
“Citizens of Western countries will gradually start to understand the difference between Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Chinese people,” Oei wrote in a Jan. 26 commentary for RFA Cantonese.
But he said it was worrying that a platform like Google, which owns YouTube, still appears susceptible to complaints and take-down requests from politically motivated supporters of Beijing.
“Chinese little pinks have abused YouTube’s complaint mechanism to demand that clips [of the Kavanagh confrontation] and a clip of a Hong Kong netizen playing ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ at a train station be removed,” he said, in a reference to the banned anthem of the 2019 protest movement.
“This should raise more eyebrows, and raises questions about whether Google is becoming the next Baidu due to the political stance of its own employees,” Oei wrote, in a reference to the heavily censored Chinese search engine.
In October, YouTube deleted the @Voice_of_Chonglang channel that had produced satirical spoof videos featuring Xi Jinping, fueling concerns that the Chinese government or its supporters have been exploiting the social media giant’s copyright rules. It had earlier deleted a similar channel, @RutersXiaoFanQi, which appeared on Monday to have been reinstated.
The piano incident isn’t the first time the public actions of Beijing’s supporters have led to concern over Chinese influence in the U.K. In August 2023, a Chinese art student sparked a furore after they took over a well-known graffiti spot on London’s Brick Lane, painting over the existing artwork with Communist Party slogans.
