Culture

Black Eyed Peas Reject China Boycott

by Jarrett Martineau | April 29, 2008 at 11:20 am

321 views | 5 Recommendations | 1 comment

Will.i.am is getting things started in here...er...rather, there. And, dum diddly, what do you know...'there' is actually China. And the boycott is not actually happening. So where is the love? Well, for Will.i.am. it's for the Chinese people, who he doesn't believe should be punished unnecessarily by imposing a national boycott. He suggests that if the U.S. really wants to phunk with China's heart, they should stop buying lead-loaded toys and ten cent H&M shirts.

So, Hey Mama America, go get your humps, don't lie, shut up, and just feel it. Mmmkay? It's China, baby. They don't want music, now, do they?

Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am says the band will play in China, despite calls for artists to boycott the country over its human rights record.

The star called the recent crackdown in Tibet "messed up", but asked whether it was right to "punish a whole country".

"If America really wants to make a difference, it should stop importing China's products and pay back its debt," he added.

Protests against China's foreign policy have overshadowed Olympic preparations.

The Olympic torch relay has been interrupted by protesters in Europe and the US, following China's suppression of demonstrations in Tibet last month.

China has also been criticised for its trade and military links with the Sudanese government, despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

The Black Eyed Peas previously played concerts in China in 2006, and are due to return in June this year, Will.i.am told the BBC.

"They have all this Chinese boycott stuff - they want to boycott the games," he said, "but do the people get punished when they have nothing to do with what's going on?"

"If you boycott China, when do they boycott America for what we're doing in Iraq?" he added.