Friday, 05 December 2025
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Beijing is punishing Japan – and its own young people – by pulling the plug on pop concerts

As the chief executive of Index, it’ll be of no surprise to anyone that I’ve attended my share of protests. What may be more surprising is that the largest of them all, by a long way, was in Beijing. In late summer 2012, nationalist fury against Japan erupted over the disputed ownership of islands off Taiwan’s coast.

Japanese restaurants and cars were vandalised, Chinese flags adorned offices, and central Beijing filled with thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands – of protesters outside the Japanese Embassy. I found myself on the outskirts of the protest, mesmerised. For the record, I wasn’t participating, merely passing through.

Such unrest might seem curious in a nation where the government tightly controls dissent, but these demonstrations were not only permitted, they were actively encouraged. Apparently, attendees were bussed in from neighbouring regions, given free transport and daily allowances.

Anti-Japanese sentiment is never far away in China. Switch on the TV and you’ll likely come across a show about Japanese atrocities during World War II or something similar, as I reported here ([link removed]) . And in 2012, such sentiment was politically expedient. Authorities weaponised it to divert attention from domestic grievances.

It’s a different story today. There are no mass street protests to be seen, even though tensions have once again flared between China and Japan. Last month, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that a Chinese naval blockade of Taiwan could pose an existential threat to Japan and justify a military response. The comments enraged many in China. But these days the Chinese economy is too fragile to risk unrest spiralling. Leaders need only recall how the 2022 Urumchi fire protests rapidly morphed into nationwide criticism of Beijing’s rule, to fear their effects.

Still, Beijing is punishing Japan for Takaichi’s words. They’ve asked her to retract them and she’s refused, so now the knives are out. The “wolf warriors” have re-emerged ([link removed]) , spouting anti-Japan vitriol online. Major Chinese travel companies have stopped selling tours to Japan. Screenings of Japanese films have been paused, cultural exchange events cancelled. Perhaps the most dramatic retaliation has been against Japanese singers. Multiple concerts have been shut down. In Shanghai last Friday, Maki Otsuki, best known for singing the theme tune to the Japanese anime series One Piece, had the lights and sound cut mid-performance ([link removed]) . A video shows her stunned as staff remove her microphone and lead her offstage. The following night, pop icon Ayumi Hamasaki posted an apology to fans after her show was axed minutes before it was due to begin.
She shared photos ([link removed]) of herself and her dancers performing in an empty venue (see photo above). Other organisers report similar cancellations.

The throngs of young Chinese who are big fans of Japanese culture feel put out and have taken to social media to say as much. They can see that a Japanese politician shouldn’t have to parrot Beijing lines in order for musicians to finish a concert in the country. Though who knows where that rage will go?

Jemimah Steinfeld

CEO, Index on Censorship


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In memory of Sir Tom Stoppard, a visionary and champion of free expression ([link removed])

Stoppard was one of Britain’s greatest playwrights and a ([link removed]) dedicated Index patron


** Watch Index’s Year in Review 2025 video
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Watch our 2025 recap video where we look at the biggest challenges to freedom of expression over the past year and Index’s work promoting voices from around the world.
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** In case you missed it
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White House announces Media Offenders of the Week

The White House website has been updated ([link removed]) with a new page entitled Media Offender of the Week ([link removed]) , aimed at “exposing” the media outlets and reporters that the Trump administration alleges are biased.

The publication targeted this week is The Washington Post, with CBS News, The Boston Globe and The Independent named and shamed previously. Scroll down the page and you reach a section called Offender Hall of Shame, a long list of outlets included in a leaderboard that links not only to the outlets themselves but also singles out reporters by name, a worrying development.

The New York Times is doing its part to fight back against the Trump administration’s attack on the media, launching a lawsuit ([link removed]) on Thursday arguing that new restrictions on journalists imposed by the Pentagon have violated the First Amendment.

Hong Kong apartment fire leads to sedition arrests

In the days following a fire that killed at least 159 people in Hong Kong ([link removed]) last week, state authorities have arrested at least three people under national security laws.

The fire tore through seven apartment buildings in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, and there are now calls for transparency and accountability to determine why it happened. A student who launched a petition demanding an investigation is reportedly one of the three people detained. He has now been released on bail, on suspicion of sedition ([link removed]) .

The authorities have claimed ([link removed]) that “foreign forces including anti-China media organisations” were taking advantage of the fire to “stir up trouble and incite chaos”.

Russian authorities ban Roblox

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor has reportedly blocked access to the popular children’s game Roblox ([link removed]) this week. The ban comes with claims the service hosts materials forbidden in Russia, including information relating to LGBTQ+ issues and terrorism.

Roblox has faced scrutiny across the globe over the last few years, with total bans on the game now in place in China, Turkey, Jordan, Algeria, Qatar, Iraq among others.

It isn’t just children’s games in Russia’s crosshairs this week, with the country’s Ministry of Justice adding the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) ([link removed]) to its list of “undesirable organisations” on 1 December. This designation bans FIDH from operating in Russia in any manner.


** Flashback
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Cancel culture, junk journalism and the dissident tradition ([link removed])

by Sarah Sands ([link removed])

“My utopia is an arena where it is not just two sides of an argument, it is every side. A pluralism in which every side is free to express itself. I would pretty much have no problem with even the excesses of an over-excited popular press if the corrective to a particular excess was freely heard in the same arena.”

This week we mourn ([link removed]) the death of Sir Tom Stoppard, one of the greatest playwrights of his time, relentless defender of freedom of expression and an Index patron and contributor.

In his memory, we revisit an interview with Stoppard by Sarah Sands from 2021, discussing everything from cancel culture and journalism to J K Rowling and free speech. Read more here ([link removed]) . ([link removed])


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By supporting Index on Censorship today, you can help us in our work with censored artists, jailed musicians, journalists under threat and dissidents facing torture or worse.

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Photos by: (Ayumi Hamasaki concert) www.instagram.com/a.you/; (Sir Tom Stoppard) Harry Ransom Center

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