BEIJING (AFP) ― China has forbidden German electronic band Kraftwerk from performing at a music festival, more than a decade after they appeared on the bill of a Free Tibet concert, an industry source said Thursday.
Modern Sky records, a Chinese music company, applied to the Ministry of Culture for permission for the band to play at the annual Strawberry Festival in Beijing next month.
But a source at the firm, asking for anonymity for fear of reprisals, said: “Kraftwerk were not allowed to play ... because they participated in a Free Tibet concert.
Kraftwerk achieved fame in the 1970s as pioneers of electronic pop music and were scheduled to appear at a high-profile “Free Tibet” concert in Washington, D.C. in 1998.
The band pulled out after the show was afflicted by bad weather.
China’s culture ministry has a long-standing policy of refusing permission to acts who have voiced support for Tibetan independence, several sources with knowledge of the matter told AFP.
