新闻来源：www.nytimes.com
原文地址：Why is Ye, Formerly Kanye West, Doing a Show in China?
新闻日期：2024-09-15
中国rapper Ye（即前任Kanye West）将在周日于中国进行表演，这让许多粉丝既激动又疑惑。他们想知道为什么这位曾经令人头疼的艺人能在中国演出？为何选择在海南这个较偏僻的岛屿而非北京或上海举办这场音乐会？
这一问题的答案可能与中国目前的经济状况有关。自三年前解除因新冠病毒采取的边境封锁后，中国政府正努力刺激消费和促进旅游业的发展。“海口市政府官网发布信息称，‘大力引进受年轻人欢迎的新类型演出及国际歌手演唱会，是未来高质量发展的重点’。”
但不清楚Ye的表演是否属于一个更广泛的政策调整范围或只是一个特例。即使在疫情之前，随着官员们对言论的控制日益严格，知名外国艺人的访华次数已有所减少。例如，Bon Jovi和Maroon 5的几场演唱会曾被突然取消，有猜测认为这是他们支持藏独等议题所致。而Justin Bieber曾在2017年因“不良行为”被北京政府阻止入境。
对于Ye来说，虽然中国官方曾经对说唱音乐发起过攻势，称那些侮辱女性和宣扬吸毒的艺术家“不配有舞台”，但他的知名度可能使他对说唱身份的质疑变得无关紧要。特别是对海南而言更是如此。多年来，中国政府一直致力于将面积相当于马里兰州或比利时的海南岛打造成国际商业中心。这里提供免签入境及免税购物，承诺吸引更多世界级文化活动。
香港 Baptist 大学传媒学者 Sheng Zou 表示，中国的审查是随机的。“至于 Ye，我认为他的知名度可能比说唱身份更重要。”25岁的深圳科技公司员工 Ricardo Shi 认为，有机会见到Ye是一次难得的机会。他说到：“已经很久没在大陆见到过他了”，2008年他曾在南京和上海进行过演出。（2008年）
西方品牌因 Ye 的反犹和 homophobia 评论而与之分道扬镳、让很多美国粉丝感到疏远的问题，在中国官员那里则不太成问题。不过，没有一个艺术家能够完全避免政治上的审查。
有张流传于社交媒体的照片显示，一位官员在会议桌上与其他人围坐在一起，面前的屏幕上写着：“海口市旅游文化广电体育局‘Kanye West 世界巡演视听演唱会’风险评估会”。该局的一名员工通过电话无法确认照片的真实性，但称类似的会议在大型活动前通常都会举行。“在我看来，这些都是种测试，”这名姓王的员工说，“将来会有更多外国人来海南进行类似演出。只要能提供正能量，我们就会做。”目前尚未宣布 Ye 将演唱哪些歌曲，曲目需提前经过审查。
上周 Haikou 宣布举办 Ye 的演唱会之前，一场原定于台湾举行的音乐会也突然取消了。主办方称是“未预见的情况”。目前尚不清楚该取消是否与在中国的演出有关。
一位曾多次参与 Ye 音乐会的公关人士未对此事作出回应。
尽管 Ye 成功通过了中国的审查，但仍有人认为他不应被允许表演。海口市公众投诉网站上的一系列留言对他的歌词和个人行为提出异议，有人甚至称“不符合我国的文化和价值观”。
一些 Ye 的支持者认为这些意见来自不满意的 Taylor Swift 粉丝。Swift 女士尚未宣布中国巡演的具体日期。（近期几位上海市政府顾问呼吁放宽音乐会审批程序，原因是一位他们称之为“流动 GDP”的艺人——Taylor Swift）。
关于 Ye 的反对声音很快从政府网站上消失。
原文摘要：
When the news broke that Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, would be performing in China on Sunday, the elation of many of his fans was mixed with another emotion: confusion.Why would the notoriously prickly Chinese government let in the notoriously provocative Ye? Why was the listening party, as Ye calls his shows, taking place not in Beijing or Shanghai, but in Hainan, an obscure island province? Under a trending hashtag on the social media site Weibo on the subject, one popular comment read simply “How?” alongside an exploding-head emoji.The answer may lie in China’s struggling economy. Since China reopened its borders after three years of coronavirus lockdowns, the government has been trying to stimulate consumer spending and promote tourism.“Vigorously introducing new types of performances desired by young people, and concerts from international singers with super internet traffic, is the outline for future high-quality development,” the government of Haikou, the city hosting the listening party, posted on its website on Thursday. But it is unclear whether the appearance by Ye — who would be perhaps the highest-profile Western artist to perform in mainland China since the pandemic — is part of a broader loosening or an exception.Even before the pandemic, the number of big-name foreign entertainers visiting China had been falling as the authorities tightened controls on speech. Acts such as Bon Jovi and Maroon 5 had shows abruptly canceled, leading to speculation that band members’ expressions of support for causes like Tibetan independence were to blame. Justin Bieber was barred from China in 2017 over what the Beijing city government, without specifying, called “bad behavior.”Ye might have seemed like a no-go too. The Chinese authorities declared war on hip-hop in 2018, with the state news media saying that artists who insulted women and promoted drug use “don’t deserve a stage.”But in Ye’s case, objections to hip-hop may have been outweighed by the potential payoff — especially for Hainan.For years, the Chinese government has sought to turn Hainan, an island roughly the size of Maryland or Belgium, into an international commercial hub. It offers visa-free entry and duty-free shopping, and has pledged to attract more world-class cultural events.Sheng Zou, a media scholar at Hong Kong Baptist University, said enforcement of censorship was capricious. “When it comes to Ye, I guess his celebrity status may outweigh his identity as a hip-hop artist.”For Ricardo Shi, 25, an employee of a tech company in Shenzhen, the chance to see Ye was worth spending $700 on plane tickets for a two-day trip to Haikou. “It’s been so long since he last came to China,” he said. (Ye performed in Beijing and Shanghai in 2008.) “It’s a rare opportunity to be there in person.”Ye, who is touring to promote “Vultures,” his new album series with the singer Ty Dolla Sign, has praised China. He told Forbes in 2020 that the country “changed my life.” He lived in the city of Nanjing as a fifth grader, when his mother was teaching English there.And issues that have led Western brands to cut off collaborations with Ye and alienated many American fans, like his antisemitic and homophobic comments, are of less concern to Chinese officials.Still, no artist can escape political scrutiny altogether.A photo circulating on Chinese social media showed officials gathered around a conference table, before a screen that read: “Haikou Municipal Bureau of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports ‘Kanye West World Tour Audiovisual Concert’ Risk Assessment Meeting.”Reached by telephone, an employee at the bureau could not confirm the photo’s authenticity, but said that similar meetings were routine before large-scale events.“These things, in my opinion, are a kind of test,” the employee, who gave her surname, Wang, said of the Ye event. “In the future there will be more foreigners coming to Hainan for similar concerts. As long as they provide positive energy, we’ll do it.”No one has announced what songs Ye will play. Set lists must be preapproved by censors. A week before officials announced Ye’s Hainan stop, a listening party planned for Taiwan was abruptly canceled. The Taiwan organizers cited “unforeseen circumstances.” It is unclear whether the cancellation was related to Ye’s show in China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan.A publicist who has worked with Ye on past listening parties did not respond to a request for comment.Even after Ye passed the Chinese censors, some complained that he should not have. A string of submissions to Haikou’s public complaints website objected to his lyrics and personal behavior, with one user declaring them “inconsistent with our country’s cultural and social values.”Some Ye supporters suggested that those complaints were from disgruntled Taylor Swift fans. Ms. Swift, with whom Ye has a long and well-documented feud, has yet to announce any China dates for her Eras tour. (Several Shanghai government advisers recently called on the city to loosen its concert approval processes, citing performers like Ms. Swift, who they said were like “walking G.D.P.”)The anti-Ye comments have since disappeared from the government website.
