Japanese jazz musician Yoshio Suzuki and his band were in the midst of a sound check for some long-awaited performances in Beijing when the venue was visited by plain-clothes police on Thursday afternoon.

“After less than one minute, the venue owner came to me and said the police told him all concerts with Japanese people are cancelled – and there is no discussion,” said Christian Petersen-Clausen, a German concert promoter and documentary filmmaker who has lived in China for 13 years.

About a dozen concerts with Japanese musicians in major Chinese cities have been abruptly cancelled this week as diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo escalate.

The trigger was remarks this month by new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi who said a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan’s survival could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

China, which regards the democratically governed island as its own, was incensed and has said Takaichi will face consequences. Its response began with economic measures such as a boycott on travel to Japan and a ban on imports of Japanese seafood, but it has since increasingly spilt over to the realm of cultural events.

Suzuki, an 80-year-old renowned jazz bassist and his quintet had undergone a months-long review process to obtain China performance visas.

“They were absolutely excited to come to China,” according to Petersen-Clausen, adding the band was “crushed” at the news.

On Thursday and Friday, music venues across China were warned by authorities that concerts with Japanese musicians for the remainder of 2025 may be cancelled, he said.

The venues were also told not to submit fresh applications for Japanese performers’ gigs next year and concert organizers are now banned from sending promotional texts to fans about upcoming gigs of Japanese artists.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.