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March 8, 2008

The fallout from Björk's "Tibet" call

Bjork Tibet Tibetan Shanghai Declare IndependenceIt 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):

The Dalai Lama has never stopped his plot to separate Tibet from China since he betrayed the country, Zhang, secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, said on the sidelines of the parliament session.

"I have never heard that the Dalai Lama refrains him away from splitting Tibet from China," Zhang told reporters. "We never tolerate those who are dead set on splitting activities."

Meanwhile, in a review of the concert published yesterday by Shanghai Daily entitled "Icelandic diva leaves puddle" (their headlines never fail to make us go Huh?), the writer, Sam Riley, made a reference to Bjork's "controversial parting comments“ without actually spelling out what Bjork did. "Tibet" apparently is a bad word in our city's only English-language daily. The paper's editors, opting to maintain a more conservative stance than Xinhua and CCTV, probably thought it was in the best interests of expatriates in Shanghai that they didn't know anything about it. Riley, however, seems to have a sense of humour. Bjork's final set, Declare Independence, was not named in his article, but this was his description of the concert's finale:

Some of the best moments of the concert came when the colorful, flag sporting brass section encircled Bjork on some pared-back numbers that show-cased the singer's powerful voice and gave the set an intimate feel.

Photo from chromewaves

Related links
China News Agency: "比约克上海演出引不满 文化部:核实后依法处理"
CCTV.com: "冰岛女歌手上海献唱 宣扬"西藏独立"挑衅中国"
Xinhua: Instigation of "Tibet Independence" doomed to fail
Shanghai Daily: Icelandic diva leaves puddle
China.org.cn: Chinese furious at 'Tibet-independence' Bjork
AP: China Stricter After Bjork's Tibet Chant
AFP: China vows curbs after Bjork sings for Tibet
AFP: China raps singer Bjork over Tibet protest

Previously on Shanghaiist
Björk's "Tibet, Tibet" caught on Youtube
Did Björk actually root for Tibetan independence in her Shanghai concert?
Björk in Shanghai: Our thoughts, your thoughts


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Comments (17)

breitbart.com/article.php?id=080307071842.nhvozsxg&show_article=1

Carve China into its proper pieces!

 

SHE is a bitch!!!

 

She is like take big RMB to her account and say "hey, fuck you China."

What a bitch.

 

Funny thing...I was in some remote villages in Qinghai a few weeks ago visiting some Tibetan Monasteries. There were Dhali Lama pictures everywhere while the monks and local Tibetans talked openly about Free Tibet....the day after I left some very peaceful Tibetan monks were beaten by the Chinese police......no wonder many of them hate Chinese

 

Winterfalling . . . I'm sure she's rich enough that whatever she earned in China is insignificant to her . . . likely she came here for the experience, maybe even the chance to snub the goons in charge around here. I know this may be mind-blowing to a local, but not all people are driven purely by greed.

 

Richard and winter:

People who speak out against imperialism and oppression are not 'bitches' they are heroes.

Check me out:

"Free Iraq"

(super) Andy.

 

Mata_hari: bad example there? The US has been screaming and shouting "Free Iraq" the most, and look what an utter mess they've made out of it!

 

I'm sure the situation must be very frustrating for the Ministry of Culture with Chinese Characteristics. Performing artists are so unpredictable. Even if they vetted every recording Bjork has ever made, they wouldn't have found anything objectionable, but here she goes in a live setting suddenly committing one of the Big No-No's.

I'm anticipating the Ministry will be hiring extra staff to do internet news searches for everyone applying for an entrance visa as a performer to see if they've ever been caught saying anything about Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, or any of the other taboo subjects. They could also station sharp-eared monitors at the sound board with a switch to kill the PA should a performer venture outside approved boundaries.

Of course, they need to balance this against the negative publicity they would get from shutting down a show...

 

I mean free Iraq from America. Just that.

What you are referring to is the US administration who invaded the country because they could allegedly hit us with missiles at whim ...and when that was found to be untrue, changed their tune mid-way to 'freeing iraq from tyranny' ... pathetically trying to get around their own oft-quoted 'standards' set out at Nuremburg. That is, an aggressive invasion of a sovereign nation being the 'ulitmate' war crime.

What do you want to do next?

"Free Palestine!"

"Free Wales!"

 

"Liberate Taiwan!"

 

Oops.

Strikethroughs don't work here apparently

 

I think the HTML is 'del' now ..let's try.

This is a boring useful post.

 

I think the HTML is 'del' now ..let's try.

This is a boring useful post.

 

You're right.

 

Agreed. I was most upset with the way the US killed 1/4th of the population of Iraq, permanently annexed it, forced the political/religious leaders into exile, arrested all critics, and censored protests related to the new 51st state. Now the US is just siphoning off all the resources, and importing US citizens while Iraqis become 2nd class citizens in their own country. It's lucky we're in China and can talk about these things freely.

 

Mata_hari

fuck you! fuck your mother!
clean your ass and go home ! stop meddling in other people's business

 

@Richard lee:

"clean your ass!"? That is something most people do on a regular basis...well, then again this is China.

Free Tibet!
Free Southern Mongolia!
Free E. Turkestan!
Free Hong Kong!
Free Macau!
Defend Taiwan!
Free Wu!
Burn Beijing!

 
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