China blocks Bob Dylan gigs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/apr/04/china-blocks-bob-dylan-gigs
Bob Dylan's planned tour of east Asia called off after Chinese
officials refuse him permission to play in Beijing and Shanghai
Peter Walker
4 April 2010
Aged 68 and almost half a century past the zenith of his angry,
protest-song youth, Bob Dylan must almost have forgotten what it was
like to be deemed a threat to society. But it seems at least one
place still sees him as a dangerous radical.
Dylan's planned tour of east Asia later this month has been called
off after Chinese officials refused permission for him to play in
Beijing and Shanghai, his local promoters said. China's ministry of
culture, which vets planned concerts by overseas artists, appeared
wary of Dylan's past as an icon of the counterculture movement, said
Jeffrey Wu, of the Taiwan-based promoters Brokers Brothers Herald.
Dylan fans denied the chance to see their hero might also blame
Björk, who caused consternation among Chinese officials two years ago
by shouting pro-Tibet slogans at a concert in Shanghai, Wu told Hong
Kong's South China Morning Post.
The verdict scuppers Dylan's plans to play his first dates in
mainland China. The singer, who plays around 100 concerts a year on
his Never Ending Tour, had hoped to extend a multi-city Japanese leg
with concerts in Beijing, Shanghai, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong
Kong. All these would now be called off, Wu told the newspaper.
"With Beijing and China ruled out, it was not possible for him just
to play concerts in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan," he said. "The
chance to play in China was the main attraction for him. When that
fell through everything else was called off."
Wu said officials had become more cautious since Björk, the Icelandic
singer, chanted "Tibet! Tibet!" after performing a song called
Declare Independence in Shanghai in 2008. China has ruled Tibet since
invading it in 1950 and views the Himalayan territory as an integral
part of its national territory.
"What Björk did definitely made life very difficult for other
performers. They are very wary of what will be said by performers on
stage now," Wu said.
Last year, Oasis were told they were "unsuitable" to play in Beijing
and Shanghai as Noel Gallagher had appeared at a Tibet freedom
concert 12 years earlier.
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Bob Dylan cancels Asia tour after Beijing rejection: report
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ix8tq3ec4zy-q7UgOrDBOtZU_3wg
4/4/10
HONG KONG Bob Dylan has cancelled several legs of an Asian tour
after Beijing refused to give him permission to perform in China, a
newspaper reported Sunday.
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.
Tour organisers, 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 AFP went unanswered on Sunday.
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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