On Sunday, Lady Gaga met with the Dalai Lama for an innocent-enough discussion about kindness, compassion, and mental health.
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A search on QQ Music, one of China’s most popular music streaming sites, shows there’s still plenty of Lady Gaga music available.
It remains unclear if Lady Gaga will still be allowed to perform in China after meeting with the Dalai Lama, as many are speculating that she might not be permitted to do so.
According to Associated Press, the spokesperson added: “The goal of [the Dalai Lama’s] visits and activities in other countries is just to promote his proposal for Tibetan independence”.
She said during her meeting with the leader: “We have to cool the system down”.
The Dalai Lama is an unpopular figure in China after fleeing to India in 1959 and establishing a Tibetan government.
The Gaga-Lama summit inspired a wave of outrage, lament and soul-searching on Chinese social media.
Thousands of Chinese Internet users flooded Lady Gaga’s Instagram account with angry comments after she posted photos of the meeting. “Paying more attention to inner values like love and compassion are the right approach”, he said, adding that he felt the world had become too materialistic. Another wrote, “This is proof that she can love and respect a Chinese terrorist”. The Dalai Lama’s name in Chinese is often blocked on social media service Weibo, but it appears that authorities have been giving users some space to express their pro-Beijing umbrage towards the USA pop star.
“You don’t know what this picture can mean, ‘ another fan said”.
Many have been quick to condemn Lady Gaga, asking whether she is “stupid” or “ignorant” on the subject of Chinese political sensitivity.
Chinese websites and media organisations were ordered to stop uploading or distributing her songs in a sign of Beijing’s irritation, the newspaper said. Past artists include Maroon 5, Oasis and Bjork, who have all met with the Dalai Lama or even spoken out on his behalf and then subsequently been banned from the country.
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Last September, Bon Jovi concerts in Shanghai and Beijing were also cancelled at the last minute, reportedly because the band featured the Dalai Lama in previous gigs.
