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Dylan calls off Taiwan trip after
Beijing rejection
MUSIC HATERS: China is sensitive about allowing Western
acts to play in the country after Bjork went on a pro-Tibet tirade while singing
¡¥Declare Independence¡¦
AFP, HONG KONG
Monday, Apr 05, 2010, Page 1
¡§China¡¦s Ministry of Culture did not give us permission to
stage concerts in Beijing and Shanghai, so we had no alternative but to scrap
plans for a Southeast Asian tour ... The chance to play in China was the main
attraction for him.¡¨¡ÐJeffrey Wu, promoter Brokers Brothers Herald¡¦s chief of
operations
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Bob Dylan, front, performs at the 44th Annual
Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 27, 2002.
PHOTO: AFP
Bob Dylan has canceled several legs of an Asian tour after Beijing refused to
give him permission to perform in China, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Dylan originally planned to play in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, following his
multi-city tour of Japan last month, the Sunday Morning Post said.
The tour¡¦s organizers, Taiwan-based Brokers Brothers Herald, announced in
January that Dylan would be performing in Hong Kong on April 8, but there was
little subsequent promotion, the report said.
When permission for dates in Shanghai and Beijing was not granted by the Chinese
government, the company pulled the other Asian dates.
¡§China¡¦s Ministry of Culture did not give us permission to stage concerts in
Beijing and Shanghai, so we had no alternative but to scrap plans for a
Southeast Asian tour,¡¨ Jeffrey Wu, the promoter¡¦s chief of operations, was
quoted as saying. ¡§The chance to play in China was the main attraction for him.
When that fell through everything else was called off.¡¨
Telephone calls to the ministry by reporters went unanswered yesterday.
Wu said the ministry had tightened control over foreign singers performing in
China since Icelandic star Bjork¡¦s pro-Tibet outburst at a Shanghai concert two
years ago.
The ministry said Bjork ¡§hurt the feelings of Chinese people¡¨ after she chanted
¡§Tibet! Tibet!¡¨ when singing her song Declare Independence.
China has ruled Tibet since sending in troops in 1951 to ¡§liberate¡¨ the region.
It has grown increasingly wary of pro-Tibetan independence campaigns after
protests staged two years ago in the Tibetan capital Lhasa to mark the
anniversary of the March 10, 1959, uprising erupted in deadly violence.
Dylan is best known for the politically charged songs of his early career,
including The Times They Are A-Changin¡¦, which is hailed by some critics as the
archetypal protest song. His anti-war anthem Blowin¡¦ in the Wind is still
regularly played at peace demonstrations.
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