'Roses' lost before translation in China

'Roses' lost before translation in China By Kent Ewing

HONG KONG - Can an aging American rock band bring down the communist government of China?

Based on all the sound and fury surrounding the release of Chinese Democracy, the latest album by hard-rocking Guns N' Roses (GNR), one might think so. The China National Publications Import and Export Group - the state-owned monopoly responsible for importing all music to the mainland - has instructed record stores not to bother ordering the eagerly anticipated and long-awaited album, GNR's first in 15 years and its first release of original material in 17 years.

Moreover, although Chinese fans can listen to Chinese Democracy on the band's Myspace page, the album's official website has been blocked on the mainland and the band roundly denounced in the press and on the Internet. One outraged netizen reportedly characterized the album as part of a Western conspiracy to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."

If that is the case and this album is the most potent criticism of Chinese rule that the West can offer, then the world can expect a glorious rebirth of totalitarianism in the 21st century.

Fonte: Asia Times