It is reported that Kraftwerk, a German electronic music band, has had their visa application for the coming Strawberry Music Festival at the end of April in Beijing rejected for political reasons.

According to the Guardian, the band was denied "because they were scheduled to perform at a pro-Tibetan independence concert in 1999," although their performance at the Washington DC fundraiser "was ultimately cancelled because of a lightning storm."

Unsurprisingly, this was cited as the latest example that the Chinese authorities have bulking up restrictions against foreign artists.

The Guardian mentioned Icelandic singer Björk's shouting of "Tibet, Tibet" amid a Shanghai performance in 2008, concluding that the embarrassed Chinese authorities tightened concert rules against foreign performers and appeared especially sensitive about the Tibetan issue.

In the wake of the Björk incident in 2008, the Chinese Ministry of Culture responded that it was an isolated case, which should not affect other foreign performers receiving invitations from the Chinese side, but it stressed that foreign artists must obey Chinese law and respect local audience's feelings.

While it is unknown whether Kraftwerk's China visa was indeed rejected due to the scheduled pro-Tibetan independence fundraiser over a decade ago, let's not get it wrong about ordinary Chinese audience's feelings.

To put it simple, no matter what attitudes the Chinese government holds, foreign artists trying to seek a response from grass-roots Chinese through taking on the Tibetan "independence" or "freedom" issue, are doomed to fail.

You can call it nationalism or something else. Chinese society as a whole, including both officials and ordinary people, holds a strong antipathy toward those challenging the basic bottom line of the nation's territorial integrity and national unity.

No matter in what disguise, the essential aim of splitting this grand territory is not acceptable in the Chinese mentality.

It's equally beyond imagination that a band chanting that the Diaoyu Islands should be taken away from Chinese sovereignty would win enthusiastic fans here. This is the same thing as the pro-Tibetan independence slogan in the Chinese way of thinking.

I have foreign friends who find it very hard to understand the Chinese "obsession" with territorial integrity.

They believe the Chinese public, manipulated by the government, often overreacts when it comes to potential threats that may take even one square inch of land away from the nation's sovereignty.

While it is no secret that all governments resort to public emotions when dealing with issues of significant national interests, it has to be notified that the Chinese public's uncompromising instinct to safeguard territorial integrity is implanted in their cultural DNA.

Even without any guidance from the government, the pure market reaction here won't prove positive toward musicians with political attitudes that sound astounding in Chinese ears.

Generally, art should not be over-politicized. But certainly, there's nothing wrong with artistic products containing political attitudes and social criticism. And tolerance toward such products often signals social progresses.

For instance, the Gang of Four, a British band named after a rebel political faction that ruled China during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), toured China "without a hitch," and they deemed it as a good thing for the nation.

This is in accordance with the general trends of social development in China.

But while various artistic forms are being embraced by Chinese audience, one thing will barely find target audience: challenging the Chinese sense of territorial integrity and national unity.

Extreme examples like Björk can hardly win respect here, let alone motivate Chinese to pay for tickets.

The author is an opinion editor with the Global Times. chenchenchen@globaltimes.com.cn