Berlin - Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has been barred from
performing in China over his "bad behaviour," the Beijing Municipal
Bureau of Culture said in a recent posting on its website.
"Justin Bieber is a talented, but also a controversial young foreign
singer," the bureau wrote in response to a question from a user of
its website as to why Bieber's upcoming tour of Asia has no dates in
China.
"It is understood that as a public figure, he had a series of bad
behaviour in his social life abroad and in the domestic performance
activities he caused public dissatisfaction ... it is not appropriate
to introduce bad behaviour to the performing arts [in China]," it
said.
The bureau said it wanted to "clean up" performances in China.
However, it did offer a glimmer of hope to the once troubled teen
sensation: "We hope that Justin Bieber in the process of maturing his
own words and deeds can truly become a favourite singer of the
public."
Bieber did tour China in 2013, performing in Beijing, Dalian and
Shanghai. Less than a year later, he angered Chinese fans and
officials when he posted photos of himself visiting a controversial
shrine in Japan that Beijing and Seoul say honours war criminals.
China bans many Western artists from performing, mostly based on
political statements it disapproves of in support of the Dalai Lama
or Tibetan independence, or criticizing China's human rights record.