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China bans Lady Gaga for talking with the Dalai Lama

China bans Lady Gaga for talking with the Dalai Lama
On Sunday, bisexual pop star Lady Gaga met with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to talk about the power of kindness. Images of the meeting on Instagram were quickly met with outrage by Chinese fans, who described the monk as a “terrorist.” By Monday, the artist and her music were formally banned by the Chinese government, Asian Correspondent reports.

Lady Gaga posted a series of photos with the Dalai Lama to Instagram after their meeting at the United States Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis. The first photo has received more than 22,000 comments, many of which criticize the artist for her support of the Dalai Lama (many of the rest contain racist insults against Chinese people).

Some of the comments compared the Tibetan Buddhist leader to extremists like Osama Bin Laden and ISIS (also known as ISIL or the Daesh).

sevenbass@fab.jtt Dalai spreading love?Hahahaha just saw the most hilarious joke this year,do some research please,someone is just not what they seem like.

graceforevergirl
:
 Gaga,You don’t know the Dalai in China like BLaden.So disappointed with you。Taiwanese, none of your business….

susiemijac@its_minji98 It’s not about politics. He is just like ISIS to Chinese people. Many people have died because of him. It is similar to what Japanese Militaries have done to Chinese and Korean people in the 2nd world war. That’s why we don’t wanna keep silence.

According to Asian Correspondent, the Chinese government’s Publicity Office released a statement saying: “We need to fight against any propaganda fanning the flames of the Tibet independence movement.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei claimed on Monday that the purpose of the Dalai Lama’s travels is to promote that movement and that China just wants people to see “his true colors.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHIFT0rjWPR/?taken-by=ladygaga&hl=en

While Tibetans have taken up arms against Chinese forces in the past, the Dalai Lama publicly all but abandoned the goal of full independence in the 1970s. These days, he says he would be willing to return to Tibet and encourage his followers to accept Chinese rule if Tibetans were given a greater degree of autonomy.

Though she has yet to perform in mainland China, Lady Gaga has been banned before. Following the release of her album “Born This Way” in 2011, Lady Gaga’s music was banned for “creating confusion in the order of the online music market, and damaging the nation’s cultural security.”

Whether that security was quickly repaired or the threat posed by Lady Gaga’s open embrace of the LGBTQ community subsided, the singer-songwriter was removed from the list of banned artists in 2014.

Other artists have faced censure in China, according to NME. Bob Dylan was banned in 2010 (likely for his protest songs) and allowed to return in 2011 after Chinese officials signed off on his set list. Oasis, which had been active in the Free Tibet movement was also asked not to come back in 2009, though the government at that time didn’t say the ban was linked to Tibet, instead citing a “tough economic situation.” Jay Z, Miley Cyrus, and Bjork are also on that list.

Watch the full panel on kindness with Lady Gaga and the Dalai Lama below.

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