About a dozen concerts with Japanese musicians in major Chinese cities have been abruptly cancelled this week as diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo escalate.
Japanese jazz musician Yoshio Suzuki and his band were in the midst of a sound check for some long-awaited performances in Beijing when the venue was visited by plain-clothes police in the afternoon of Nov 20.
Christian Petersen-Clausen, a German concert promoter and documentary filmmaker: “After less than one minute, the venue owner came to me and said the police told him all concerts with Japanese people are cancelled — and there is no discussion.”
reuters.com/world/china/ch
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Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
Japanese singer Kokia’s Beijing concert on Nov 19 evening was abruptly canceled amid China-Japan tensions.
Concertgoers from across the country had been queuing and waiting outside the venue but still couldn’t enter even after the scheduled start time. They were left in the dark
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