MCLC: Beijing unsoothed by Kenny G visit

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Beijing unsoothed by Kenny G visit
Source: NYT (10/22/14): http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/world/asia/kenny-g-stirs-controversy-with-visit-to-hong-kong-protest.html
Beijing Unsoothed by a Kenny G Visit
By DAN LEVIN
Kenny G performing at a concert in Hong Kong in 2008. His music is hugely popular in China. Credit Victor Fraile/Reuters
BEIJING — It seemed innocuous enough on the surface: The smooth-jazz musician Kenny G paid a surprise visit to a Hong Kong protest site on Wednesday, posing for photos with residents who are demanding the right to free elections.
He shared on Twitter the news that he was at the demonstration, along with a smiling photo showing a protest banner in the background.
But little is that simple here.
Kenny G is an icon in China, and his visit stirred up controversy and conspiracy theories on both sides of the political divide.
In one of the more inexplicable mysteries of Chinese culture, his 1989 saxophone ballad “Going Home” has for decades oozed from speakers across Chinese public spaces at closing time, setting off rapid exits by the masses. The song has no lyrics, yet somehow, when it is played in a mall, Chinese shoppers know what to do. They go home.
So after weeks of accusations in China’s state media that foreign forces were behind the protests, the sight of the popular American musician openly fraternizing with protesters prompted a stern warning from the Chinese government.
“Kenny G’s musical works are widely popular in China, but China’s position on the illegal Occupy Central activities in Hong Kong is very clear,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said at a daily news briefing on Wednesday. “We hope that foreign governments and individuals speak and act cautiously and not support Occupy Central and other illegal activities in any form.”
Kenny G played four concerts in China last month, though whether he will be allowed to return remains to be seen. A number of high-profile foreign musical acts have taken the stage in China recently, including Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Mariah Carey, but the authorities have bridled at foreign artists’ taking a public stance that opposes the will of Beijing. In 2008, the Icelandic singer Björk yelled “Tibet! Tibet!” during a song about independence at a concert in Shanghai. The outburst prompted government restrictions on which foreign singers could perform in China, and the government has requested set lists in advance.
But an opposing theory that surfaced last week on Twitter said that Beijing might send Kenny G to Hong Kong to play “Going Home,” and that the protesters, who have occupied sections of Hong Kong’s business districts for weeks, would finally disperse.
Harlem Lo, a protester and Kenny G listener, scoffed. “We didn’t leave when the police used tear gas on us,” he said. “Why would a single Kenny G tune shake our determination?”
Early on Thursday, Kenny G took to Twitter and Facebook to apologize to Beijing. “I was not trying to defy government orders,” he wrote, adding that he did not support the demonstrators and knew nothing about the situation.
“I only wanted to share my wish for peace for Hong Kong and for all of China, as I feel close to and care about China very much,” he said.
Alan Wong contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
by denton.2 at osu.edu on October 23, 2014
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