Bieber banned from mainland for misbehavior

Justin Bieber has himself to blame for being kept out of the Chinese mainland, Beijing’s culture regulator said in a rare reply to a question posted on its website, which triggered a heated discussion on the Chinese social media since Friday.

“Justin Bieber is a talented yet controversial young foreign singer. As far as we know, as a celebrity, he frequently misbehaves in his social life and concert performances, which aggrieved the public,” said the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture on its official website on Tuesday.

To regulate the domestic performance market and purify the environment, performers who frequently misbehave in public are deemed inappropriate to be allowed into China, said the bureau.

The bureau also suggested that Bieber can continue to improve his speech and behavior in public to become a respected singer.

The bureau posted the notice in reply to a netizen who asked on July 16 “why Bieber is not allowed to perform in the Chinese mainland.”

Bieber had planned to hold a concert at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest in September, China’s NetEase reported.

According to Sina News, Bieber became controversial in China for visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan’s militarism past, in 2014 while he was in Japan.

He then deleted the photo of the shrine and apologized by saying “I love you China and I love you Japan.”

“I applaud the decision. China should reject some more celebrities with bad behavior,” said a Sina Weibo user called “cr chong.”

“He often misbehaves and he is a bad boy but I still like him,” said “Zhousi Yuxi” on Weibo.

Bieber held concerts in Beijing, Shanghai and Dalian of Northeast China’s Liaoning Province in 2013, according to NetEase.