China's culture ministry has said that they won't impose tighter controls on Western artists, despite the fact that they said they would following Bjork's previously reported "Tibet, Tibet" outburst in the country recently. As you'll remember, the singer shouted those words following a performance of her song 'Declare Independence' at a gig in Shanghai, and a Chinese official responded by saying that she "broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people's feelings" and said that the ministry would "further tighten controls" on Western artists performing in the country.
Now, however, Vice-minister Of Culture Zhou Heping has said that he does not think that the incident will stop China from inviting western artists to perform, especially in the light of the upcoming Olympics. The official told reporters this week: "It was just an individual case. I don't think it will affect our invitation of artists from all over the world to come to China and perform, particularly during the Olympic Games".
Of course, given the fact that expressing an opinion in China can cause such a furore, some western artists might not actually want to play there.