The fallout from Björk's "Tibet" call

It looks like the news embargo on Bjork's "Tibet" incident has finally been lifted and the fallout has begun. We have not found many traces of it, however, in the Chinese mainstream media. Two of the more notable reports we have found among the limited coverage is one by the China News Agency, the lesser known of China's two news agencies, entitled "比约克上海演出引不满 文化部：核实后依法处理" (Bjork's Shanghai performance stirs unhappines, Ministry of Culture to act in accordance with the law), and another on CCTV.com entitled "冰岛女歌手上海献唱 宣扬"西藏独立"挑衅中国" (Icelandic songstress promotes "Tibetan Independence" in Shanghai concert and angers China).

In the first article by the China News Agency, four of the five articles started with "The Ministry of Culture spokesperson said", which probably means the entire article was more or less cut-and-paste from some press release crafted by the propaganda unit. We thought the four paragraphs were worth translating, so here it is:

该发言人表示，比约克在上海演唱会上的言行，已经引起中国广大公众的强烈不满。此事已在国内外媒体上广泛报道，并引起关注。
The spokesperson (of the Ministry of Culture) said Bjork's actions in her Shanghai concert have raised a great unhappiness among the Chinese public. This incident has also been reported by media within and without China, and raised lots of concerns.

　　发言人指出，中国是一个统一的多民族国家，西藏自古就是中国不可分割的一部分，这是包括冰岛在内的国际社会的广泛共识，没有任何国家承认西藏是“独立的国家”。任何企图将西藏从中国分裂出去的行为，必将遭到全中国人民乃至世界上有正义感人士的坚决反对。
The spokesperson pointed out that China is a unified nation with many ethnic groups and Tibet has been an indivisible part of China since ancient times. The international community is in agreement with this fact, including Iceland, and nobody has ever said that Tibet is an "independent nation". Any action that seeks to divide Tibet out from China will receive the strong opposition of both the Chinese people and anyone with a sense of right around the world.

　　发言人称，中国政府积极鼓励和支持中外文化交流活动，引进了大量国外优秀文化产品和服务。绝大多数外国艺术团、艺术家来华演出都能自觉遵守我国《营业性演出管理条例》的有关规定。但是个别人利用商业演出进行政治“表演”，既违反了我国的法律法规，伤害了中国人民的感情，也违反了一个演艺人员应有的职业道德。对这样的艺人，中国观众是不欢迎的。我们已通过多种途径、方式表达了对这一事件的强烈不满。
The spokesperson said the Chinese government has been actively promoting and encouraging the Sino-foreign cultural exchanges, and China has brought in many excellent cultural products and services. Most foreign artists and troupes will automatically obey the regulations as stipulated in the "Management Regulations on Commercial Performances". Nevertheless, certain individuals have chosen to turn their commercial performances into political "performances", breaking Chinese law, hurting the feelings of the Chinese people [Note from Shanghaiist: we told you it would come!], and going against the professional standards that any performer should have. China does not welcome artistes like these. We have expressed our strong disapproval of this behaviour through multiple avenues.

　　该发言人最后说，对于冰岛演员比约克上海演出事件，文化部将在进一步调查核实后，依法进行处理，并将在今后对外国来华演出的文艺团组进一步严格把关，防范类似事件再次发生。The spokesperson lastly said that the Ministry of Culture would continue to investigate Bjork's Shanghai concert, and act in accordance with the law. From now on, stricter controls will be placed on performances by foreign artistes in China to prevent similar incidents from happening.

The CCTV story gave a fairly balanced overview of the incident, then proceeded to translate various comments from netizens in China (no dissenting voice there, of course).

Meanwhile, Xinhua, has proclaimed that the "instigation of Tibetan independence is doomed to fail". In a quote attributed to Tibetan Party chief Zhang Qingli (who from his name is presumably ethnic Han):