Justin Bieber has been on the road for redemption with his latest tour, which he’s dubbed a “world apology” following his immature antics in recent years.
Unfortunately for the pop star, China’s not buying it.
On Tuesday, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture released a statement confirming that the singer had been barred from performing in the country because of past instances of “bad behavior” in China and elsewhere.
“Justin Bieber is a gifted singer, but he is also a controversial young foreign singer,” read the statement.
“In order to maintain order in the Chinese market and purify the Chinese performance environment, it is not suitable to bring in badly behaved entertainers. We hope that as Justin Bieber matures, he can continue to improve his own words and actions, and truly become a singer beloved by the public.”
The Bureau was responding to a Chinese fan who contacted them, asking why her idol hasn’t performed in the country for several years, despite stops in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the Philippines.
The statement doesn’t specify which instances of bad behavior caused China to shut its doors to the star, but it doesn’t take too much sleuthing to connect the dots.
In 2014, the singer posted photos of himself visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors Japanese people who died in war, including convicted war criminals from World War II.
The Foreign Ministry of China released a statement at the time, saying: “I hope this singer can learn more about the history of Japanese militarism, and the wrongful historical and militaristic views promoted by the shrine after his visit.”
The year before, Bieber was photographed being carried up the Great Wall of China by his bodyguards. Earlier in his trip, he was filmed skateboarding through the streets of Beijing while being chased by his bodyguards.
Bieber isn’t alone in being banned by China for unsuitable behavior: last year, Lady Gaga was reportedly barred for meeting with the Dalai Lama. Oasis and Maroon 5 were banned for similar reasons.