⭐🔸𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 - 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐈🔸⭐

Dear soulmates, last week I wrote to you about the first and probably the last concert of the band Placebo in China.
⭐ You can read the previous article here:
https://bit.ly/31PfjC1

And my post today will focus on how carefully the Chinese government oversees cultural influences that could affect Chinese citizens.
🍀🔸🔸🔸🌞🔸🔸🔸🍀

Photo credits are at the end of the text

In the summer of 2017, Placebo were about to perform at the 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐢, 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚, as part of the 20th Anniversary Tour. However, on July 18, the following report appeared on the official Placeboworld instagram:

⭐ "𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝐹𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑎𝑖 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟. 𝐴 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑖 𝐿𝑎𝑚𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑'𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎." ⭐

The photo with the 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐚 then flew around the fan world. The Dalai Lama's words in the picture sounded exactly like this:

🙏🔸🙏 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑖 𝐿𝑎𝑚𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑:
"𝑀𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡; 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒; ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑.” 🙏🔸🙏

Photo credit: Ekaterina Sirazitdinova

🍀 To give you an idea of how strictly „the representatives“ of the Chinese people approach these matters, I share a few important references for you from various online magazines.
This article, which also deals with the ban on acting for Justin Bieber, states, among other things:

📌 China has banned pop idol Justin Bieber from performing because of his "bad behavior" on and off the stage.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture said the ban was necessary to "purify" the country's entertainment industry but suggested it was not permanent, expressing the hope that Bieber might improve his behavior and earn back the love of his fans. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter has had run-ins with the law over alleged drunk driving and drag racing.
Compared to British alternative rock band Placebo, Bieber was the lucky one. The group has had to cancel its gig at the Summer Sonic Festival in Shanghai in September and faces a lifetime ban from performing in China after posting a picture of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, on the band's official Instagram page. China considers the Nobel Peace Prize-winning monk a dangerous separatist.
(𝑁𝐵𝐶 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝐽𝑢𝑙𝑦 2017)

Photo credit: Sylvain Fragneau

🍀 And these articles also talk about other artists who have had to face a ban on performing for Chinese fans.

📌 ...Even a simple Instagram post can anger the Chinese government: Placebo, an alternative rock duo composed of the eclectic Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal, is well aware of this because they received a lifetime ban from China after publishing a photo of the Dalai Lama with his quote on their social network.
The Chinese Ministry of Culture, which has always been hostile to Tibet's independence and the Dalai Lama, has considered offensive what the group has published, seeing Molko as a great admirer of the doctrines of Buddhism and a supporter of independent Tibet. Following a ban on entering the Far East, Placebo apologized to their Chinese fans for not being able to perform at the Summer Sonic Festival in Shanghai, scheduled for the end of August.
(𝑇𝐺𝐶𝑜𝑚 24, 𝐽𝑢𝑙𝑦 2017)

📌 „Overseers, who are traditionally ultra-conservative, have smartened up to the excesses and potential political dangers of large-scale gatherings. From Justin Bieber to Korean sopranos to ’90s alt-rock band Placebo, the list of international artists not welcome in China has expanded exponentially." /...../
"Then, in 2008, Bjork shouted, “Tibet! Tibet!” at a concert in Shanghai, thereby screwing things up for everyone. The regulatory landscape for music changed indelibly. Authorities doubled down on a cumbersome permit and approval process for foreign bands that remains in place to this day."
(𝑆𝑢𝑝𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑔. 𝑁𝑜𝑣.2017)

📌 What's more, Bjork was banned from China in 2008 after calling for Tibet independence during a concert in Shanghai, and Oasis and Maroon 5 have also angered China by voicing support for Tibet.
(𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑔. 𝐽𝑢𝑙𝑦 2017)

Pic taken from Placebo's IG account

🍀 As you can see, China is still closing itself off from the world with its attitude to human rights and freedoms. Thanks to the work on this post, I was able to find many other interesting events on this topic - for example, how this dictatorship of the country also affected the advertising of Mercedes-Benz, which has huge sales in China.
But we will close this topic with something more pleasant🥰.
I can't leave you tonight without Placebo's songs, so I've picked out some amazing videos for you from their tour of Australia, which immediately followed the canceled concert in Shanghai. Enjoy this short but perfect show:
🎶 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 "𝑰 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘" 𝑺𝒚𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕
https://bit.ly/3fMqiEC

🎶 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 "𝑳𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆" 𝑺𝒚𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕
https://bit.ly/3rSWzwa

🎶 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 "𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈" 𝑨𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕
https://bit.ly/3dBOEOx

🎶 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑬𝒏𝒅" 𝑨𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕
https://bit.ly/2R1w6Q2

🎶 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 "𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑼𝒑 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑯𝒊𝒍𝒍" 𝑴𝒆𝒍𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕
https://bit.ly/3mk4128

Dear soulmates, today's topic is over.
I would describe this whole post with a few words:
💚 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦, 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭💚.
We find this all in the attitude of the band Placebo, in what they emanate into the world.
I will be happy with your comments on this topic.

Post by Marti

Pic 1:
Photo credit: The pic of Dalai Lama - Placebo's Instagram
The photo of Brian - Mariza Kapsabeli's IG account
The photo of Stef - Collisioni fest. IG account
Photo edit: by Marti