China puts Lady Gaga on 'hostile list' after she meets the Dalai Lama
The Communist Party of China has added Lady Gaga to its list of hostile foreign forces, which some media say effectively bans her from the country.
The American singer and actress, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, met with the Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, 81, on June 26 to discuss yoga.
The talks in Indianapolis lasted 19 minutes.
Lady Gaga has sold 27 million albums, but after this meeting she posted a 19 minute video on the meeting to Facebook.
The Dalai Lama was asked to speak at the 84th Annual Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis, said The Inquisitr News said.
"Lady Gaga, like most people, considers the Dalai Lama a source of wisdom and inspiration. He is widely regarded as a symbol of compassion and gentleness the world over," the newspaper said.
In their encounter the pair deliberated on issues such as meditation, mental health and how to detoxify humanity.
The encounter triggered an angry reaction from China, which has attacked the spiritual leader as a "wolf in monk's robes," The Guardian reported.
China considers the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in March 1959, as a separatist, but he insists he is merely seeking greater autonomy for Tibetans.
Beijing says the Dalai Lama wants to the Himalayan region from China in order to establish theocratic rule there.
After the Chinese Civil War, the People's Republic of China incorporated Tibet in 1950 and since that time Beijing and the Dalai Lama have been at odds.
After the meeting with Lady Gaga, Communist Party's propaganda department issued "an important instruction" banning her entire repertoire from mainland China, Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily reported on June 27.
It said Chinese websites and media organizations were ordered to stop uploading or distributing her songs in a sign of Beijing's annoyance at her meeting with the Dalai Lama.
"We hope that people from the international community can be fully aware of his true colors and nature," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said June 27, reported The Holllywood Reporter. "The purpose of his visits and activities in other countries is just to promote his proposal for Tibetan independence."