China furious after Kenny G appears to back Hong Kong protesters
Jazz saxophonist, who is huge in China, tweeted a picture of himself making a victory sign in front of a protest banner
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Jonathan Kaiman in Hong Kong and Emma Graham-Harrison
The Guardian, Thursday 23 October 2014 06.07 AEST
Saxophonist Kenny G, who is a big star in China. Photograph: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Most governments aren’t too bothered by what jazz saxophonist Kenny G does between concerts, but when he turned up at pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the Chinese authorities were furious.
Music critics may be contemptuous of Kenny G – full name Kenneth Gorelick – as a populist purveyor of elevator muzak, but his best-selling records are adored in China, where he is a bona fide star, making his endorsement an unusual coup for protest leaders.
The American musician’s unexpected political intervention came in the wake of a much-touted but ultimately disappointing dialogue between government officials and student leaders.
Broadcast live on Tuesday night, it was the first formal meeting between the two sides and perhaps China’s first major public debate over democracy since the Tiananmen Square demonstrations roiled Beijing in 1989.
On Wednesday, about 200 demonstrators marched to the home of the city’s pro-Beijing leader, while protesters in gritty Mong Kok, the site of violent clashes between police and protesters over the weekend, scuffled with a group of taxi drivers trying to remove barricades blocking a major thoroughfare.
Earlier that morning, Kenny G had tweeted a picture of himself making a victory sign in front of a poster reading “Democracy of Hong Kong”, and wrote: “In Hong Kong at the sight [sic] of the demonstration. I wish everyone a peaceful and positive conclusion to this situation.”
View image on Twitter Kenny G ✔ @officialkennyg Follow in Hong Kong at the sight of the demonstration. I wish everyone a peaceful and positive conclusion to this situation
7:15 PM - 22 Oct 2014
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China blocks Twitter, but some of the musician’s millions of fans there are likely to notice and share the comments. Less than a month ago the “smooth jazz” star launched a world tour with four concerts in China that only underlined his popularity, with actor Jackie Chan making a guest appearance at one. His most famous track, the 1989 instrumental “Going Home”, has gone beyond the realms of even the most massive hits, carving out a bizarre cultural niche as the sound of shutdown and dismissal.
It is played everywhere from schools to wedding banquets, shopping malls to train stations, to tell Chinese citizens that it’s time to head back to their own houses and apartments. Only around five minutes long, it sometimes runs on a loop for an hour or more, just to make sure everyone gets the message. Even the saxophonist has resigned himself to its social-engineering function in China, and shifts his playlist for concerts there to reflect it.
“I save it for last,” he told the New York Times earlier this year, in an article exploring China’s inexplicable devotion to the tune. “I don’t want everyone going home early.”
Within hours of his tweet, the Chinese foreign ministry had issued a frosty condemnation of his display of solidarity. “Kenny G’s musical works are widely popular in China, but China’s position on the illegal Occupy Central activities in Hong Kong is very clear,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing, according to Reuters.
“We hope that foreign governments and individuals speak and act cautiously and not support the Occupy Central and other illegal activities in any form,” she added.
Kenny G later protested his innocence in a series of further tweets, saying: “I don’t really know anything about the situation and my impromptu visit to the site was just part of an innocent walk around Hong Kong,” and then, “I only wanted to share my wish for peace for Hong Kong and for all of China as I feel close to and care about China very much.”
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