Oasis get in scuffle with Chinese government

Oasis had been due to play China, only now they're not. Why?

Depends on who you believe, really. The promoter suggests that the economic downturn was the reason; the band insist permission to reform was revoked when the Chinese government discovered Noel Gallagher once took part in a Free Tibet concert.

Hard to believe that Noel Gallagher ever stood up about anything, other than Jay-Z playing Glastonbury.

Quincy Jones: Dupe?

Quincy Jones is continuing to help the Chinese out arranging their Olympic Games ceremonies, because erm, he isn't going to pull out:

"It's not my intention to withdraw from the Olympics," he was to say in his speech. "I care too much about Darfur and China and if I can stay in the game with others like us, I feel we can make a difference."

Jones hopes to have a role in assembling an ad-hoc committee to "go to Khartoum to sit down and try to get something done," he said. "The whole world has got to start taking responsibility for each other. With communication, you can no longer afford the luxury of thinking of national kinds of issues. Everything that's done anywhere is a world issue, and together there's lots of things we can do that nobody can do alone."

China can become "a hero in the eyes of the world" by sending United Nations African peace enforcers to the Darfur region, stopping arms imports to the area and calling on Khartoum to force the Janajaweed militia to cease its attacks on civilians, Jones said.

So, arranging the Olympics, which is China's attempt to present itself as a modern, friendly, kinda-democratic place, is the right thing to do because "business as usual" is the right message to send?

Does Jones really not see that his continued support for the regime - and the assistance he's giving to their massive sport-themed marketing push this summer - is far, far more valuable than some vague plan about sending an "ad-hoc committee" to see that "something must be done"? Unless Jones has a secret clause in his contract forcing China to address its terrible record, all he's doing is propping up Beijing. Oh, and he's not even going to bother about Tibet at all:

Jones said he is less focused on China's role in Tibetan violence because it "is a difficult one to solve in three months. There's so much history behind it. But Sudan is happening every day. We're talking about babies dying in Darfur, so that one has got me personally."

So, not even bothered about the violent crushing of dissent in Tibet because, ooh, it's a tricky one. Let's not go there, then.

Bjork attempts to clear up Tibet

It's perhaps escaped her notice but the Chinese repression of Tibet story has moved on quite a bit since Bjork muttered 'Tibet' onstage in Shanghai. Or perhaps it hasn't, as she's decided to provide some, um, elucidation as to what was running through her mind:

"When I said 'Tibet, Tibet', I whispered it three times. There was no fuss in the room. It happened afterwards on websites. It shows more than anything that China has become the next superpower in the world. And the issue is: how are they going to deal with Western moral issues like freedom of speech?"

Actually, watching the Chinese shut down web access and send troops rolling into the markets of Tibet, I think we can guess what their response is to that issue.

We're a little bit puzzled as to why she stresses she only "whispered it" and that the "fuss" came afterwards - was it meant to be her striking a blow for free speech, or was it not?

Bjork's year of living dangerously

Having upset Serbia by dedicating the song Declare Independence to Kosovo last week, this week, Bjork's now done the song in Shanghai and yelled 'Tibet, Tibet' over the end of the song.

It's not gone down well:

"If she really did this, then this woman really makes people throw up," one comment on popular Chinese Web site Sina.com said.

It's nice that the commenter decided to withold his politically-motivated puking until he's had it confirmed that she really did it. Too often the quality of political debate is sullied by people spewing before they're certain of all the facts.

Apparently, people who were there were a bit underwhelmed, too:

"The atmosphere was very strange, uncomfortable compared to the rest of the concert," said audience member Stephen Gow, a British teacher who lives in Shanghai. People didn't boo, Gow said, but they left the Shanghai International Gymnastic Center hurriedly.

It's wonderful that Bjork showed her disgust at Chinese official policy by ensuring that when she did a gig in the country she didn't cash the cheque before muttering something about Tibet.