by Alex Jordan

“Chinese Democracy” banned in China

No, not an obvious statement, but sadly a predictable one. According to the Wall Street Journal , the Chinese authorities had imposed a ban on Guns N' Roses' new album ‘Chinese Democracy’ in time for its release on November 23rd.  Axl Roses's title (dreamed up because he 'liked the sound of it') seems to have been considered most inflammatory. In China, it is illegal for titles of books, films or records to contain the word “democracy”. Record shops have consequently been warned ‘not to bother’ stocking the album. Some of the album’s lyrics have also been found to be at fault, including, "if your Great Wall rocks blame yourself," (allegedly an attack on the Chinese government) and references to the Falun Gong sect, a longstading enemy of the Chinese authorities,

 'Watch my disenchanted face
Blame it on a Falun Gong
They see the end and it can't hold on, now'

According to The Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party’s newspaper, the album is ‘venomously attacking China’ as part of a Western plot to ‘grasp and control the world’ - so far this has been the party’s only official statement.

Party officials may be fighting a losing battle, despite an apparent block on internet searches for ‘Chinese Democracy’ from mainland China. Fans have been attempting to access websites using 'spelling mistakes' or codes to avoid detection by internet servers. The atmosphere surrounding the album seems tense, though. Despite requests, few Chinese artists have dared to allow their work to be used for the cover of the album - hence the fairly innocuous bicycle photograph. One artist, Chen Zhuo, initially gave permission for his provocative picture of Tiannamen Square as an amusement park to be used, before changing his mind when he read the lyrics. The eventual alternative cover features a photograph by Beijing based artist Liu Zheng.

You can read more at:

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/11/china-bans-democracy-declares-war-on-guns-n-roses/

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2008/11/24/2008-11-24_chinese_media_calls_guns_n_roses_chinese.html

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