ALPHA DRIVE ONE’s (Leo, Junseo, Arno, Sangwon, Xinlong, Anxin and Sanghyeon) fan-sign events in Shanghai, China, have been canceled. Makestar said on September 30 that the group’s offline events in Shanghai, scheduled for October 10 and 11, “could not be held as planned due to force majeure, and after careful review and coordination we have made the final decision to cancel.” It added, “We deeply apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment caused to fans.” The Shanghai events were to include an offline fan-sign in the first part and a group photo session in the second. A series of K-pop events in Shanghai have recently been canceled. According to News1, EXO-CBX’s (Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin) solo fan meetings scheduled for September 26–27 and October 2 were canceled and refunds are under way, and TREASURE’s fan-sign planned for October 6 and a fan-sign marking EVAN’s first album were also reportedly canceled. Organizers cited only “force majeure” without giving specific reasons. Industry observers say Chinese authorities’ restrictions on Korean cultural content, the so-called ‘Hallyu ban’, appear to persist regardless of improving Korea-China relations. K-pop artists have held fan meetings and fan-signs in major cities such as Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chongqing, excluding Beijing, and attention is now on whether the cancellations will spread to other regions.