Bjork ‘broke law’ at China concert

CHINA will be stricter on foreign performers after Icelandic singer Bjork shouted “Tibet! Tibet!” at the end of her concert in Shanghai this week, the government said.

And China’s top official in Tibet yesterday accused the Himalayan region’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of seeking to sabotage the Beijing Olympics.

A statement by China’s Culture Ministry said Bjork’s outburst “broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people’s feelings”.

Bjork shouted “Tibet!” after her song Declare Independence on Sunday. The outburst drew rare public attention inside China to Beijing’s rule over the Himalayan region.

The statement, posted on the Culture Ministry’s website, said “there is no country that admits Tibet is an ‘independent country’.”

Bjork has performed the song to support other independence movements in the past. She dedicated the song to Kosovo while performing last month in Japan.

China’s 58-year rule over Tibet has drawn frequent condemnation from foreign governments and activists. Many Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama their rightful leader.

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against communist rule, told Britain’s ITV network in January during the Olympics, Tibet supporters should protest peacefully in China against Beijing’s rule.

“He is engaging in sabotage” Zhang Qingli, Communist Party boss of Tibet, said.

Groups claiming to represent exiled Tibetans are planning a march from India into Tibet ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as part of a series of actions to try and embarrass China into ending its rule in the Buddhist region.

Zhang’s lieutenant, Qiangba Puncog, said: “We will definitely ensure the Olympics and Olympic-related events in Tibet proceed smoothly.”