Doesn't say if it is a single performance. If there is another one in
China boo her off the stage. Or better still boycott it and demand
the money back for putting up an unacceptable show.
Bjork's Shanghai surprise: a cry of 'Tibet!'
Tania Branigan in Beijing
guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday March 4 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/04/china.musicnews
First, Stephen Spielberg upset Chinese internet users after resigning
as artistic adviser to the Olympics over Darfur. Now, Bjork is under
attack after
shouting "Tibet! Tibet!" at the end of her song Declare Independence
at a concert in Shanghai.
Her remark was not re****ted in the official media, but led to angry
criticism when it began to circulate on the web.
While China's 58-year occupation remains controversial
internationally, most Chinese people see Tibet as an integral part of
their nation and regard calls for its independence as intrusive and
divisive.
One comment, on the Sina website, read: "If she really did this, then
this woman really makes people throw up."
Even a fan complained it was "disrespectful" and "very selfish" to
raise the issue while visiting.
The Icelandic singer initially dedicated Declare independence to
Greenland
and the Faroe Islands, which still have formal links to Denmark. The
video for the song shows her in clothing bearing their flags. Its
lyrics include: "Don't let them do that to you. Raise your flag!"
While performing in Japan last month, she dedicated the song to
Kosovo. Bjork also played at several fundraising concerts sup****ting
Tibetan independence in the US in the 1990s.
Raising the issue on Chinese soil, as she did on Sunday, was bound to
prove more contentious.
Stephen Gow, a Briton who was present, told the Associated Press news
agency: "The atmosphere was very strange: uncomfortable, compared to
the
rest of the concert."
But another audience member, Gabriel Monroe, told the Guardian most
people did not register the remark at first.
"One of my friends thought she was saying 'to bed', because she had
mentioned it was the last song," he said.
He said that, up until then, Bjork had delighted Chinese fans by
saying "xie xie" (thank you) after every song.
Comments from Chinese discussion boards (translated by the media blog
Danwei), however, were mostly outraged. "Those who put on the show
should be severely fined and not allowed to bring this kind of trash
in for performances," wrote one angry commenter.
Another wrote: "Why do western stars give a **** about Tibet. Isn't
Tibet ours?! Mind your own business!"
But at least one spoke up in her defence, arguing: "So what if she
sang a few lines about Tibet? We don't need to berate the woman to
death."
Matt Whitticase, spokesman for the London-based Free Tibet Movement,
said the group was delighted by her remarks, contrasting them with
Gordon Brown and David Miliband's "shameful" decision not to raise the
issue publicly on their recent visits to Beijing.
"Speaking out while in China has shown it is perfectly possible to
make a high-profile visit and raise the ongoing plight of the Tibetan
people," he said.
Bjork's spokespeople could not be contacted.
Asked last month about criticism of the Chinese presence and human
rights record, the foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said:
"Tibetan affairs are
domestic issues of China. Tibet has been an inseparable part of
Chinese territories since ancient times, which is universally
recognised by the international community.
"Some overseas forces advocating Tibet independence have been engaged
in anti-China separatist activities."
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