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Guns N’ Roses album a plot to embarrass China?
The new Guns N’ Roses album “Chinese Democracy” is an attempt by the aging rockers to “influence the world’s (opinion of China) by using democracy as a pawn,” a newspaper run by China’s ruling Communist Party editorialized on Monday.
“(The) western stars, who are surrounded by news of drugs, sex and violence, rarely come to China and don’t have any understanding of Chinese democracy,” the Global Times reported in an article titled “American band releases album venomously attacking China.”
The band began recording the album in 1994 and it was released in the United States on Sunday. But Beijing’s censors, who maintain tight controls over films, music and books, are unlikely to allow the work to be sold legally in China.
The record’s title track makes a reference to the Falun Gong spiritual movement that Beijing banned as an “evil cult.” In an apparent message to China’s authoritarian government, it warns that “if your Great Wall rocks, blame yourself,” the Associate Press reported.
Beijing approves only a limited number of foreign films and recordings for distribution each year and regulates live performances, including by forcing bands to submit set lists before shows.
The Rolling Stones were barred from playing several songs with suggestive lyrics during a concert in China 2006, including “Brown Sugar” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”
Censors tightened restrictions earlier this year after Icelandic singer Bjork shouted “Tibet!” at the end of a concert in Shanghai.
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