Oasis forced to pull China shows

14:30 | Monday March 2, 2009

The band were scheduled to perform shows in Beijing and Shanghai on April 3 and 5 but the government has instructed ticket agencies to stop selling tickets for what would have been the band’s first shows in China and to reimburse the fans who have already handed over their money.

According to the shows’ promoters, the licenses were revoked after the government discovered that Noel Gallagher appeared at a Free Tibet Benefit Concert on in New York in 1997. As a result, it has decided that the band were unsuitable to perform in China.

The rest of the South East Asian leg of the band's tour, including the Hong Kong show, will go ahead as planned.