CHINA SUSPENDS JAPAN SHOWS AMID TENSIONS – China halts Japanese concerts as diplomatic tensions rise {JC}
At least a dozen concerts featuring Japanese musicians in major Chinese cities have been abruptly cancelled this week as a deepening diplomatic standoff between Beijing and Tokyo begins to spill into the cultural sphere.
Chinese authorities warned music venues nationwide that shows by Japanese performers scheduled through the end of the year may be scrapped, and advised against submitting new applications for 2025, according to a concert promoter.
Christian Petersen-Clausen, a Norwegian documentary filmmaker and concert promoter, told reporters that two Beijing performances by a Japanese jazz band he organised were halted on Thursday, November 20th with “no discussion” when plainclothes police visited the venue during sound check.
The clampdown follows weeks of rising tensions after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo – remarks Beijing has condemned and demanded be retracted, warning of “consequences.”
China has a history of using cultural boycotts against countries as a form of economic coercion during diplomatic disputes. No major K-Pop bands have been allowed to perform in the country since the THAAD missile dispute between the two neighbours in 2016. K-dramas and other Korean cultural products remain under an unofficial ban on Chinese platforms.
