Jane Birkin cancels Shanghai concert after China refuses to issue her a visa
British actor and singer blocked from entering China because of her ‘commitment to fighting human rights abuses’
British actor and singer Jane Birkin has cancelled a planned concert in Shanghai next week after being denied a Chinese visa.
China refused the visa because of Birkin’s “commitment to fighting human rights abuses”, an associate said, noting that the French-based singer is a member of Amnesty International and the International Human Rights Federation.
The authorities “gave no explanation... but there is no other reason” for denying the visa, the source told AFP on Friday, adding that other members of Birkin’s troupe had been given visas.
The Chinese embassy in Paris did not respond to requests for comment.
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra was to have accompanied Birkin at the 9 July concert, part of her Gainsbourg Symphonic tour which kicked off in Montreal early last month to mark 25 years since the death of iconic French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.
Birkin, 69, is perhaps best known as the muse of Gainsbourg, who penned some of the songs that catapulted her to fame.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jul/02/jane-birkin-cancels-shanghai-concert-after-china-refuses-to-issue-her-a-visa?CMP=share_btn_tw
