GNR Gets The Gong

A Global Times article dated Nov. 24 carried a headline that blared: “American band releases album venomously attacking China.”

The piece said album “turns its spear point on China.” Unidentified Chinese Internet users described the album as part of a decadent plot by Western imperialist running dogs to “grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn.”

A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, speaking on routine condition of anonymity, said: “We don’t need to comment on that.”

The long-delayed Chinese Democracy is unlikely to be sold legally in China because the country approves only a limited number of foreign films and recordings for distribution each year.

Banned material is usually available through alternative channels, though, as file sharing and pirating of DVDs, computer games and music CDs is rampant in China.

YouTube and the Guns N’ Roses’ MySpace page were blasting songs from the new release as of Nov. 24 but it was not immediately possible to tell whether China’s Internet monitors were trying to block access to the sites.

In China, monitors use content filters to highlight and sometimes block messages containing such controversial words as democracy.

Live performers must also toe the line in China.

Earlier this year, Harry Connick Jr. and his band were forced to play songs they weren’t prepared for at a Shanghai show because the wrong list was accidentally submitted to Chinese authorities. A set list was required before the show to secure the performance permit for the concert.

Authorities were probably still peeved after Bjork shouted “Tibet!” at the end of a Shanghai concert a week earlier.