A surprising number of musical artists are banned from performing in China — and Justin Bieber's name has been added to the list.
BBC News reports that Beijing's Culture Bureau has banned Bieber from performing in China.
Apparently, the ministry gave BBC News a statement citing the singer's "bad behavior" as the reason for the ban.
"Justin Bieber is a gifted singer, but he is also a controversial young foreign singer," the bureau explained in a written statement. "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."
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As BBC News points out, some of Bieber's "controversial" actions the statement mentions have taken place in Asia. Bieber visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in 2014 and shared a photo of himself there. But the shrine is a controversial one, BBC News explains — in South Korea and China, "the shrine is seen as a symbol of Japan not being sorry for its empire's past." It's not clear if that incident played a part in the new ban, but it probably didn't help.
Variety has the full statement — the bureau also said it wants to "purify the market environment."
Bieber will still be visiting other parts of Asia on tour this fall, though, BBC News notes. He'll be performing in Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan.
And Bieber's been doing plenty of damage control to improve his image stateside, too. The singer recently visited patients at the Children's Hospital of Orange County, played soccer with kids in India, and supported a street performer in New Jersey.
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