GREAT BAWL OF CHINA

What do Justin Bieber and the Dalai Lama have in common?

Well, besides posing naked, smoking weed at gigs and wearing meat outfits? Oh wait, that’s Lady Gaga, not the Dalai Lama, even though the spiritual leader does nonetheless belong to the same tiny club as they do.

No — not Richard Gere’s fan club. That one has fewer members.

What all three share is the distinction of being banned in China.

Biebs is just the latest banned boy — along with Bon Jovi, Maroon 5 and Oasis, as well as female rockers like Björk (who wears swan, not steak). These performers were all banned — unlike Biebs — for speaking in favor of Tibetan independence. Katy Perry, Biebs and Gaga were banned not for speaking out but for speaking smut.

Being banned in China is now better than winning a Grammy.

You get tremendous street cred without having to actually go to China, the most annoying country on the planet. It would be more fun to visit North Korea.

My only regret is that I wasn’t banned in Beijing before I wasted my time traveling there.